


Don't Stand So Close to Me

by Hamburglar



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: And By That I Mean, Child Abandonment, Consensual Underage Sex, Daddy kink(?), Eventual Smut, I'm sorry I know I'm a piece of shit, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, It's not as angsty as I'm making it sound I think, Multi, Referenced Mental Illness, Referenced Mutilation, Schizophrenia, Sexual Tension, Teacher AU, Teacher-Student Relationship, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Underage Sex, but don't mind me, let me tell you this is 90 percent cockblocking, out the fuckin wazoo, pinky swear, that inhibits the formation of healthy relationships, they will fuck at some point, unresolved childhood trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-11-13 14:30:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 24
Words: 49,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11187063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hamburglar/pseuds/Hamburglar
Summary: "Young teacher, the subjectOf schoolgirl fantasyShe wants him so badlyKnows what she wants to beInside her there's longingThis girl's an open pageBook marking, she's so close nowThis girl is half his age"





	1. ?

**Author's Note:**

> I started this when I was shit faced in a Disneyland resort. It's inspired by The Police's "Don't Stand So Close to Me", which is a timeless banger. Feel free to roast me, I wrote this on my phone and didn't edit it.

It's cold. Really cold. Nose running, pink cheeked, teeth chattering cold. Her short legs fight to keep moving, frozen at the joints and unable to stabilize themselves when her left foot glides over a strip of ice. A chorus of sympathetic noises tells her she's fallen before her body does. Back to the unforgiving sidewalk, she struggles to catch the wind that's been knocked out of her. 

"Are you alright?" Hands lift her with ease from slippery cement. "Are you hurt?" A man repeats. 

"My pride is a little sore." She jokes half-heartedly and rubs the back of her head. This was gonna bruise later. 

He towers over her at least a foot, maybe two. "Let me take you to the nurse." 

"I'm fine." She assures him with the best smile she can manage, features pink with frostbite and embarrassment. "Thanks for... yeah, thanks." 

"It's no trouble. You're unfamiliar, are you a substitute?" His eyes are kind, his voice is gentle. Her shame melts away and is replaced by the soft hum of a quickened heart beat. 

She almost forgets his question by the time she answers. "Uh- ah, no, I'm not a teacher. I'm a transfer student."

He straightens his back and subtly puts a little more distance between them. "Rough way to start your first day. How about I show you to your first hour?"

"I'm sure I can figure it out on-"

"Nonsense." He interjects and politely beckons her along. She shoves the school map that had distracted her back into the pocket of her overcoat. This is the last time she tries to read and walk at the same time. 

"I'm Mr. Smith, the vice principal." He speaks when they enter the building. She can feel her nose thawing in the artificial warmth, but the pain in her head is a lot sharper without the cold air to numb it. 

"I'm Aurora." She says a little too quickly, trying to keep up with his striding steps. "Bonet."

The bell rings above them and he leads her through empty halls after asking for her homeroom number. "Where'd you move from, Aurora? The city?"

"Actually I moved to the city." She avoids his first question. "My dad got a job there."

"So you're taking the train, then? We have a group of students that travel together, I'll get them in touch with you. It can be dangerous alone." He warns. Something about his tone seems rehearsed, like he's trying too hard to be polished. It sits wrong with her. 

"Thanks." She says absently, shifting the bookbag on her shoulder. 

"New York is a great place, but Connecticut is a better choice for education. And Rose Wall Academy is the best there is." He stops in front of the classroom. "Should I speak with your teacher and clear up your tardiness?" 

"Uh, yeah, actually. Thank you." She nearly stutters out, brushing uneven hair behind her ear.

He opens the door, introducing her to the teacher and explaining that some paperwork needed to be addressed before school. She silently thanks him for not mentioning her clumsy ass spill a few minutes before. With a polite nod of farewell, he leaves her to slip into the first open seat she sees and try to calm the flustered apple of her cheeks from being center of the classrooms attention.

A hum of whispers prickle the hair on her neck. No matter how many times she moves, she never gets used to it.

Five periods and a lunch spent in the bathroom pass, and she's wandering aimlessly with her map in hand once more. 

"Hey, you're in my first hour. Aurora, right?" A boy startled her with a hand on her arm. He's tanned a summer bronze, which is shocking in November, eyes a brilliant green. 

"Rori." She corrects, shying away from his hand. 

"Eren. This is Armin." He motions to a boy she hadn't noticed before, hidden behind blonde bangs. "Need help finding your next class?" 

"If it's not any trouble."

"Course not." He flashes two rows of too white teeth and steals the class schedule from her fingers.

"Ah, shit. You got Ackerman your first year here, that's rough." He starts walking and she follows, his friend wordlessly heading in the opposite direction. 

"He's tough?"

"And mean. Lucky I'm in there with you." He grins again, nodding abruptly at a group of boys that pass. One whoops suggestively at them and Eren laughs. "It's an easy class if you're good at French. Or so I've heard, I fuckin' suck." 

"I'm... decent." Rori adjusts her knitted scarf. 

"You gotta be real careful with shit like being late, talking, texting, going to the bathroom, sleeping, eating, breathing- actually anything. He's an asshole and he gets in trouble with the school board all the time for it."

"I'm a quick learner." 

"Bet you are." He casts a side glance at her and a boyish smile. The shrill of the last bell echoes around them. "Shit, we're late." 

They speed to the end of the hallway, Eren bursting ungracefully inside. Before Rori sees him, she hears him. A book slams on the front desk. The students stare.

"Explain." The voice is deep and masculine and makes her stomach drop fearfully.

"I was helping her find the classroom, she's new."

"She should learn how to read a map. You know better. Half a page on past participles by tomorrow's class, take a seat." His voice is deep and monotonous with a slight edge of irritation. Her face prickles with heat as Eren begrudgingly stalks to his desk, leaving her in full view of both the class and the instructor. 

"Have you taken French before?" He's not much taller than she is, but he strikes the fear of god in her with an icy, unblinking gaze.

"Yes."

"How long?"

"I was born in Paris." She answers hesitantly, hardly able to meet his eyes. They narrow, unbelieving.

"Pourquoi es-tu dans cette classe si tu parles couramment (Why are you in this class if you speak fluently)?" He leans his legs against the desk, folding his arms.

"Il serait difficile de commencer à apprendre une langue différente au milieu de l'année (It would be difficult to start learning a different language in the middle of the year)."

Someone among the desks scoffs and a buzz erupts among her peers. Mr. Ackerman straightens up. "Find a seat." 

She rushes to the only open seat. It happens to be directly in front of his desk, and was left open for an obvious reason.

"Shut up." He barks at the class. They quiet immediately. "Books open to page 394. Translate passages 2 and 3, answer the comprehension questions on 396. If it's not done by the bell, it's additional homework. I better not hear any voices." 

The sound of shifting papers adds white noise to her beating heart, still unrecovered from the embarrassment. He tosses a book on her desk with more emphasis than necessary. "They didn't tell me you'd be here today, that's a loaner book. You need your own copy from the library. What's your name again?"

"Aurora Bonet." 

His eyes bore holes into hers, but this time she doesn't look away. "Since you're fluent, I'm giving you separate assignments. You'll be doing literature comprehension and analysis instead of translation. I should kick you out of this class, but I don't wanna do the fucking paperwork." 

She almost winces at his language, unfamiliar with the word in a classroom setting, nevertheless from a teacher. "I understand."

"For now just... do other homework. I'll pull something from the AP course for tomorrow." He sighs and returns to his desk. 

She lets out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. This year will be longer than she had hoped.

..................

She arrives to an empty house that is not her home. 

She lights the fireplace. Soft autumnal folk fills the empty space around her, drowning the silence that would otherwise gnaw at her mind.

It's too cold to be hungry, but she hasn't eaten all day. She promised to start taking better care of herself (not that they'd know if she didn't). So the onions are chopped, the meat grilled, spices mixed, rice steamed, broth boiled. She sits at a table meant for six with a meal meant for two, alone.

Her walls look dressed in mourning black. Father thought it looked sleek and modern. She feels cold inside of them. 

It takes an incredible amount of conscious effort to swallow half of her bowl before she wraps the leftovers. Aurora finds a space for them in a fridge stuffed with food she will never eat.

A shower, a stretch, a chapter of The Sun Also Rises for AP literature, 23 brief calculus problems, and she finally gets to her French homework. Minutes before the bell rang Mr. Ackerman had patched an assignment together: Describe the significance of language to the human condition in 50 words or less.

Two hours passed. She hadn't really meant to sleep tonight anyways. A collection of balled up paper is strewn beside the couch- she hates turning in papers with eraser marks. 

Around three, her pencil finally moves with purpose and then she is asleep.  
.........................

On the train she pulls the hair beside her bangs back into a short pony tail, letting tendrils too short to reach the elastic band frame her face. Her reflection in the window looks youthfully messy; brown mascara clumping long lashes together in a wild frame around doe-eyes, cheeks splattered with soft freckles and a blush that never fades, lips slightly chapped and red with cold. She cared about her appearance, sure, but she just didn't know what to do with it. Everything outside of light makeup made her anxious about drawing too much attention to her already shocking appearance. People looked twice, understandably, at the mismatched color of her irises. One was the crisped edges of a hole burnt into fabric by a forgotten cigarette. The other milky blue bath water, rippling like a rock had skipped across the surface. A genetic defect, her mother's side, that costed her the melanin in one eye. The blue was cruel and honest, baring a dark and pensive pupil. She favored the warm, romantic brown of her left eye. It was all she could find in her features that resembled her mom. 

"Hey, Rori, wait up!" A voice calls from behind her as she steps through the gate. 

Eren jogs from the open courtyard, breath billowing out in clouds from a smiling mouth. "Your hair looks cute like that."

"Uh, thanks." She absently tucks a curl behind her ear. 

"Do you wanna come hang? I want you to meet my friends, they're-" he nods to an expectant group of people a few feet away. 

"Actually, I need to go to the office. Change a class." She interjects, "maybe later."

"Oh, yeah, for sure. Um, you're not changing your homeroom right?" He speaks a little hurriedly. His neck flusters immediately and someone behind him laughs.

"No. Fourth." Rori shuffles her feet, suddenly self conscious. "Uh. See you in first hour."

"Yeah, see you." 

She spins on her heels, hyperaware of the teasing jests of Eren's friend group behind him. "Real smooth, Jaeger." "Shut up, Jean."

..........................

"So you're an office assistant, now?" Mr. Smith's smile was playful, half hidden behind a hovering coffee mug. 

"Pottery class isn't for me." She continued stapling paper packets of permission slips for the winter formal dance. 

"I can't say I'd enjoy it either. How are you adjusting?" 

"Okay." She pressed her lips together in a feigned smile, hoping he'd find something better to do than stand there making her nervous. 

He quirked an eyebrow. "Have you made any friends?"

Is this dude her fucking dad, now? "Yeah, I think so."

"Anyone that rides the train with you?"

"No, not yet."

"Riding alone is dangerous for young girls." Every time he speaks it's more paternal than before, it makes her feel antsy. She ducks her head, wishing her hair was down to create a barrier between his eyes and her pink cheeks. 

"I'm pretty solid on stranger danger, sir." She regrets the quip immediately but he laughs.

"I'm sure you are. Sorry, I just know I wouldn't want my daughter riding alone."

"Does she go here?"

"Oh, ah, no I don't have a daughter. I meant hypothetically."

"Oh." She staples another paper. The silence is uncomfortable. "Where do you want these?" 

"Uh, 30 in every teacher's mailbox." He motions to the wall of cubbies to his left. 

She starts counting, filling the boxes up. 

"Do you, uh, like any of your teachers so far?" He continues. She wished he'd stop trying to make small talk and sit in his office like he was probably meant to. Where were the rest of the office staff?

"They're all okay."

"That's- that's good."

She hesitates, then turns around. He straightens up and lowers his mug expectantly, perhaps even hopefully? "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." 

"Do you know Mr. Ackerman?"

He smiles knowingly. "Very well. You have him?"

"Yeah. He's...."

"Harsh. I know. He means well. Did he give you a hard time yesterday?"

"He stood me in front of the class and interrogated me in French." She crosses her arms.

"I'm sorry, that must've been embarrassing. I'll have a word with him."

"No, no, I wasn't embarrassed." She insists, though a rosy shade creeps from her ears to her neck. "I just wanted to know if he's... always like that."

Mr. Smith chuckles. "Unfortunately."

..........................

"Where's my paper." Mr. Ackerman stops in front of her desk, holding his hand out expectantly. The class works silently, as they had the day before, not daring to look up. Aurora fishes in her bag for the folder. Before she can finish sliding the paper out, he snatches it and scans it like a map.

"That's arrogant." He scoffs about half way through the page. Rather than shame, she feels the singe of resentment. "And depressing." He adds.

"How would you rather me answer that cliche, vague prompt?" The words stumble from her mouth before she can stop them. Every pencil in the class stops. The silence is deafening.

He clenches his fist hard enough to crack the knuckles. "Stay after class." His voice is still as monotonous as ever, but his gaze is venomous. 

The minutes drag on, her stomach sinking lower and lower to the floor. She avoids looking at her teacher but is sure he isn't looking at her regardless. If he is really that angry, he would've called her out in front of the class like he did with Eren the other day, right? Right? 

The bell sounds far away when it rings. Everyone shuffles silently for their things and out the door a little quicker than usual. She remains seated.

Her face burns, fingers cold. Mr. Ackerman isn't speaking. Or moving. 

Hesitantly, she looks from under her bangs. 

"Stand up." He speaks immediately upon meeting her eyes. She bumps her knees clumsily against her seat and flattens the edge of her skirt. He's silent. If she wasn't mistaken he seemed to be... appraising her?

The meat of his fingers drum a steady beat against his desk. "Venir à moi (come to me)."

The distance between her feet and his suddenly feels unconquerable. It takes too many steps to close the space, her jaw feels heavy and her heart slides down to her stomach. "Je m'excuse pour ma grossièreté (I apologize for my rudeness)."

"Cut the bull shit, brat." He leans back in his chair. "You like it? Writing?"

"Yes, sir."

"For a French girl you're pretty touchy about your writing. It's not bad, it just needs work. You're young, arrogance is unavoidable, but I'm still gonna call you out for it. You can grow a thicker skin or get the fuck out of my class." He speaks firmly, but a little gentler than he had before. His gaze is lazily hooded, and yet incomparably intense. Intimidation oozed from his expression, his body language, his style- she despises him yet finds herself craving his approval. 

"I wanna stay." She speaks after realizing his last statement had been a question. 

"Good choice." He pulls a hardcover from the stack of books on his desk and hands it to her. "I'm going to need some extra time from you outside of class. I don't care if it's before or after school, lunch is fine as a last resort. Can't spend class time working with you when these dumbasses can barely read in English, never mind French."

She thumbs through the yellowing pages. "What's the assignment?"

"For now, read. As much as you can by tomorrow. I find that discussion based learning forces people to stay on their toes, as opposed to writing a thesis essay. You can't erase a conversation."

Her palms are slick with moisture. "So it's a verbal assessment?"

"Are you thick? I just told you. Now get out." He returns his eyes to neatly organized papers and dismisses her with a wave of the hand.

It takes all she has not to sprint for the door.

Shit. Shit. One panic attack after the next. Eren leans with his shoulder to the wall just outside the classroom door. 

"I didn't hear any yelling, did you get chewed out?" 

"No, extra homework." She holds out the thick book Ackerman had given her.

"What? He would've ripped me a new one!" They walk together, him slowing his steps to match her smaller ones. "He must think you're cute."

Heat climbs up her neck and ears. "Shut up." 

He grins that toothy smile. "I'm kidding. So you're like, really good at French, right?"

"Yeah, my mom wouldn't speak English to us." 

"I'm having a really hard time figuring out the tenses and I was wondering if you'd-"

"Help you?" She stops at the gate, brushing hair behind her ear. The sun is bright, she closes one of her eyes and looks up at him with the other. 

He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah... if you wouldn't mind. I could get you, like, tickets to the football games when season starts." 

She laughs a little for the first time in a while. "I'm not really... into sports. But I'll help you."

"Really?" He perks up like a puppy. "How about after school tomorrow?"

"Actually, Ackerman says I need to work with him after class on the separate curriculum he's preparing for me." 

"That sounds... weird. Is that even allowed?" 

"I don't know but I don't think I have a choice."

"Man, he really must be into you." Eren jokes again. "I gotta get to practice, we'll figure out a time later. Bye!" He walks backwards towards the football field.

"Later." She waves a hand. 

The train is much more empty than it had been the day before, void of the first rush of students and commuting workers. She sinks into a seat and immediately slips into a daze, blinking slowly at the ground and thinking about where her dad must be. He hadn't been answering her calls for over a week now but her bank account was just filled with a few grand. That meant he was either silently apologizing or he telling her not to expect him for a while. There wasn't anything in recent memory he'd done that he would apologize for so she figures the new house was going to stay silent for a while.

"Brat. Aurora. Get up. This is the last stop." 

She snaps up, eyes darting first to the empty seats around her. Had she fallen asleep?

"What are you doing here?" She looks confusedly at Mr. Ackerman, who stands above her with hands in pockets.

"I don't have the patience to drive across the bridge every day. Come on, get up."

She hadn't noticed him getting on. But then again, she doesn't regard herself a very observant girl. 

She finds herself walking along him in the dark, the sun had set since she'd fallen asleep. 

"Let me give you a ride." He unlocks a sleek black car, his back turned to her.

The beating of her heart becomes audible. Words are heavy in her mouth. "N-no, thanks. I only live a block from here."

"It's cold."

"I'm fine."

"It's dark."

"I'm fine."

"If you think you're putting me out, you're not." He sighs and turns to her, cocking his head lazily to the side.

She fiddles with the zipper of her jacket. "It's weird."

He rolls his eyes. "Just get in, brat."

Her nerve endings shoot off like firecrackers and she is walking towards his car hesitantly. He's right, it's cold. It's dark. She tells herself she's too tired to walk. She has to justify this.

He looks over the top of the car at her, telling her nothing with his blank eyes.

The car smells new. Like oily leather and coffee and maybe something minty. When he gets in, she is painfully aware of how close his elbow is, resting on the middle console as he starts the car and looks behind him to pull out.

"What street?"

"8th."

"Uptown? That's a fifteen minute drive. You lied."

She tucks her lips between her teeth. "Walking clears my head."

"'Clearing your head' around here isn't safe. Why doesn't someone pick you up?"

"My dad works."

"Your mom?"

She doesn't answer. He doesn't ask again. "I always ride the 5 o'clock as long as I don't have a meeting. If you hang around school long enough, I'll drive you home."

"No, sir that's-"

"Incredibly generous and helpful? Yes it is. A sixteen year old girl wandering around the streets at night is the start of every SVU episode. Motherfucker! No one can drive in this fucking city." He honks at the car that cuts him off.

She is rigid in her seat, hands folded and knees pressed together. "I'm seventeen." She corrects.

Why do you care? 

"Believe it or not, I'm a teacher because I care about the well being of young people."

Shit, had she said that out loud? She must be really tired.

Minutes pass by in silence, tension lessening. 

"Where does your dad work?" 

"Tokyo, right now."

"Who's at home with you right now?" 

"Uh. I FaceTime him every week." 

"That's not what I asked." He takes his eyes off the road to meet hers. 

"He's only gone for a few weeks." Lie.

"You're alone?"

"It's not a big deal. It doesn't happen often." Lie.

"Didn't you just move here? You're alone in a new city?"

"I'm fine." Definitely a lie.

His knuckles tighten around the wheel. "Nobody else is looking after you?"

She knew he was subtly asking about her mother. "It's this house up here." He pulls in parallel to the stoop, turning off the engine.

"I know you're not gonna take me up on it, but if you ever need anything..." he says it almost begrudgingly. 

"Yeah, sure." She opens the door but stops to look at him. "Thanks for the ride." 

He nods and restarts his engine. Instead of driving off, Mr. Ackerman watches her unlock the door and disappear inside, lingering a minute longer than necessary.


	2. ??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is some real bullshit if you ask me...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a weird sort of thing where music inspires like everything I do, so I listen to music for ideas or make playlists to fit my ideas. I'm thinking I should have a song for every chapter and just link it? It's probably dumb but I'm gonna do it anyways so feel free to roast me in the comments.
> 
> "Lavender Blood" by Fox Academy is definitely Rori's character song it's a bop about pretty things and social anxiety:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLukSgdw1Qk

"This is Mikasa, you've met Armin, Jea-" 

"I'm Jean." He leans across the table and extends a hand. Rori shakes it hesitantly.

"Right, like I said." Eren grumbles. "This big lug is Reiner, that's Bertholt, Annie's over there with Marco, Sasha, Connie, and Ymir and Historia, they're dating." He motions to each of the people sitting at the table as he introduces them.

"Nice to meet you." She brushes her hair behind her ear and sits where Eren has made space for her. 

"What'd you say your name was?" Reiner asks.

"It's Rori." Eren interjects, closing the space between them so their sides touch. She didn't feel so flustered as she had the week before, Eren seemed well-intentioned, if not a little eager. 

"Let her talk, asshole." Reiner shoves him from across the table. "Where are you from?"

"I move around a lot. Dad's work." She explains, subtly sliding away from Eren. 

"I got you, my dad was in the military, got stationed everywhere." Jean says. 

"Mm." She makes a noise of acknowledgement and puts food into her mouth to excuse herself from speaking. 

"Rori's teaching me French." Eren says like a child that had been given more candy than the others.

"You speak it?" Marco seems genuinely interested, Rori likes his smile. 

"I'm from Paris." She swallows a bite and nods her head.

"Wow! That's so cool, are you a dual citizen?"

"Yeah, my dad's from here. I moved when I was young."

Jean interrupts. "I gotta ask, are you wearing contacts?"

Her cheeks sting with warmth. Reiner punches his shoulder. "Ow, what?"

"Uh, no. It's genetic."

"I think it's cool!" Jean blurts instead of an apology. 

"Yeah, they're really beautiful." Sasha says dreamily, voice muffled with food.

"Thank you." Rori ducks her head. Eren nudges her shoulder in a supportive gesture.

"Hey, I'm in French too, do you think I could ask you for help some time? Ackerman's on my ass about pronounciation." Reiner asks in the hall just before the bell rings.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. I can help you at lunch." 

"You're an angel, I'll see you later." He winks and saunters in the opposite direction. 

Rori had transferred through enough schools to know that 'the new girl' is always a shiny new toy for certain guys, ones who'd been around the same crowd since elementary school. They liked a change in scenery, not her. She didn't want to hang up on it, or even really pay mind to it. Not like she'd be here long anyways.

"You're late." Mr. Smith speaks, but didn't seem bothered. His voice carries over the clicking of keys in his office. She leans in the doorway. "Sorry, I was talking to someone."

"Oh good, you've made friends!"

"Something like that." 

"I heard you and Levi- I mean, Mr. Ackerman, ride the same train." A hint of suggestion in his tone making her palms sweat.

"If it weren't for him I would've slept all the way to Soho." She doesn't know why she feels guilty, or if he even knew about Ackerman driving her home.

"I'm glad he's there to keep an eye on you. You'd be surprised how often pretty girls just disappear from plain sight." 

Pretty. Her mind clings to that word and a prideful fluttering fills her chest. "I'm careful." Her voice is softer, she tugs the bottom of her sweater. 

"I trust your judgement, not the worlds." He raises his coffee to his mouth and meets her eyes for the first time. He looks good in glasses.

"Anything you need me to do?" She kicks her foot gently against the floor, feeling fidgety under his gaze. 

"Not presently, no. I assume all your homework is done so get some extra study time in." 

"Thank you, sir." 

She plants herself in a chair just outside his office, probably reserved for disciplinary reasons. It doesn't seem like much of a problem at this school, seeing as no one was ever in the office at the same time as her. She figures most of the staff must take lunch during that hour. 

After getting home so late, she hadn't read as much of Ackerman's assigned reading as she meant to. It wasn't all that interesting but she enjoyed all the scribbled notes in the margins. It was his personal copy. The book felt warm in her hands knowing that it'd spent so much time in his. She started making mental notes of what to discuss with him in their time after school. There was something familiar about him, emotional vacancy probably, and as dislikable and harsh as he is she wants his validation. 

Her thoughts drift further and further from the page until she's 'read' three pages without retaining any of it. The bell wakes her from the daze. In the hall she weaves in between and around students seamlessly due to her small stature.

Mr. Ackerman doesn't look up when she sits, choosing to stare at his phone instead. When the class is full of students, he stands and passes out exams, to which several people groan. She hadn't heard him mention a test. 

"Don't whine, there are plenty of extra credit opportunities if you actually did the reading." He rolls his eyes and skips Rori's desk.

She plays absently with her hair and fidgets every so often, painfully aware of the silent judgement from the student sitting beside her. Ackerman's plan for her curriculum seems to be extremely disconnected from the rest of the class rather than the minor tweaks she had expected initially. She should've taken German.

She finds herself looking up at him more than she should, a little disappointed that he isn't meeting her eyes. What is she supposed to do? Sit in silence all year while he ignores her and teaches the class? Bitterly, she pulls his assigned reading from her bag and finds her place. 

Thoughtlessly she chews her bottom lip and leans her chin on her hand. Again, she looks up. Her chest swells with panic after a moment when she realizes Ackerman's eyes are already on her. His gaze is icey, menacing even, and forces her attention back to her book in embarrassment. The clock ticks noisily above, she times her heartbeat to match it.

When Eren turns his test in at Mr. Ackerman's desk, he stares at Aurora instead of walking away. Levi follows his line of vision. "Sit down, shithead."

"Yeah, sorry."

Rori looks up and Eren grins like a doofus, tapping her desk as he passes. She smiles to herself and thumbs a messy strand of hair behind her ear.

"Concentre-toi sur ta lecture, idiot. (Concentrate on your reading, idiot)."

Rori nosedives into the book when Levi's voice scolds her.

When class ends, she stays seated as she had the day before. Eren waves goodbye as he scurries out with his peers. 

"How far did you get?" Levi asks after a brief silence, still looking at his computer screen.

"Um, middle of page 103." 

He nods in approval. "You read fast." 

"It's interesting." 

"I'm glad you think so. One of my favorites." He leans back in his chair casually and puts his feet on the desk. "Quelle est votre interprétation des actions de Jacques? (What's your interpretation of Jacques' actions)."

She closes the book and leans on her elbows, feeling a little more relaxed by his nonchalant posture. "Je pense que c'est un connard misogyne (I think he's a misogynistic asshole)."

He snorts. "That's... brazen. Explain." She likes the amusement on his typically stoic features. He looks younger when he smiles.

"He has a savior complex, it's an unnecessary trope that romanticizes a man involving himself in a woman's plight, not because he's a 'nice guy' but because he has an over inflated masculinity. Racquelle n'a pas besoin ou ne veut pas son aide (Racquelle does not need or want his help). Il s'impose sur elle parce qu'il veut baiser (He is imposing himself on her because he wants to fuck)."

He rolls his eyes. "I thought you liked it."

"Conventionally, I do. It's beautiful writing."

"It's supposed to be a romance."

"Yeah, when men paid for women in goats and potatoes." 

He smirks. "If you're so evolved, what are you doing hanging around that shitty brat Yeager?"

"What's wrong with him?" She immediately jumped to her own defense, though she didn't feel anything romantic towards the dopey football player. 

"Oh nothing, just his lack of emotional and intellectual depth, apparent immaturity and neglected personal hygiene." Levi takes his feet off the desk and sits forward. She isn't sure if he's teasing or challenging her but it pisses her off either way.

"You're just assuming he's stupid because he's not doing well in your class. And you give them stupid tests without warning or verbal instruction, learning a new language is hard! You can't just read it. It's not his fault." She fires back, dainty hands balling into fists. He would be more upset if she didn't look so fucking amusing when she was upset. 

"Chill out, I meant it as a compliment, you're better than a cliche quarterback boyfriend." He speaks without thinking. His dismissive tone does nothing to calm her rage.

"As old as you are, I'd think you would know how to mind your own business." She snaps coldly, grabbing her bag from the floor and snatching her book from the desk.

Half way out of the class her temper disappears and she becomes embarrassed by the outburst, but she's stubborn. She can't stop now. 

While shocked by the nerve of her, Levi finds himself impressed. He'd perceived her as somewhat timid and falsely arrogant, as all teens were, but she stood up for herself. Of course he realized he was often a bully, but that was the only way he knew to get respect. It needed to be frightened out of kids. Or so he thought.

"Ms. Bonet, what are you hanging around here for?" Mr. Smith passes her in the hall, ever present coffee mug in hand. "You waiting for Mr. Ackerman?"

"No." She mutters, barely meeting his eyes as she passes. Her cheeks are a shade darker than usual, eyes glossy with tears just breaking the surface. He would stop her if thought it would help. From what he'd put together, Aurora wasn't a talk-it-out type of person. However, he was beyond curious and concerned for the source of her discontent.

He doesn't knock on Levi's door before barging in. "Interesting lesson today?" He says with an edge on his tongue. 

Levi sits with the bridge of his nose pinched between two fingers. "What are you talking about?"

"I just passed one of your students. Aurora Bonet?"

"And?"

"Any reason in particular that she looked distressed?"

"Thin skin." 

"Mm." Erwin leans on the desk right in front of Levi's. "Nothing else?"

"Why would there be anything else?"

"You just seem to be invested in her is all." 

Levi's body goes rigid in a subtle way, but enough so that his friend notices. "What are you insinuating?"

"Nothing. Except that I want you to be more understanding of your students, and display a little finesse in your interactions with them."

"I'm not going to coddle those braindead idiots because it hurts their feelings when I tell them the truth." He narrows his eyes. 

"After all these years I still cannot understand why you became a teacher."

"You know what they say, if you can't be it, teach it."


	3. ???

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Would you look at that, some more bullshit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's long as dick. Have some songs to set the vibe  
> Cigarette's After Sex "Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2LQdh42neg  
> Jack and Eliza "Hold the Line" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NqaP-FxcV0  
> Sports "Drivin' on By You" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLPb4i5eEHw (I'm seeing them in concert this month, I'm gonna nut my pants)

A week passes with Rori strategically excusing herself from tutoring and avoiding the 5 o' clock train into the city. Instead, she spends her time with Eren and his friends. Much to her surprise, she genuinely enjoys their group dynamic. The apprehension typical of her short friendships dissolves within a few days. Rather than distancing herself to avoid the sadness when she inevitably moves cities, she makes herself open up. Eren and Reiner struggle to imitate her accent when she helps them with their French translations. Marco asks constant questions about the places she's traveled to, people she's met, and things she's seen. Armin, shockingly, asks her to edit his semester thesis. Most unexpected of all, she becomes fast friends with the, arguably, most withdrawn member of the circle, Annie.

It begins with a quiet compliment of a pin on Rori's backpack, her favorite band. They talked about their similar music taste for a while, then about a band playing at Madison Square Garden that they'd both die to see, then plans to buy tickets together. They didn't share all that much, but comfortable silence was something they both valued. 

Annie stays the night that weekend after the rain gets too heavy to walk home after they've been out picking through used records. She keeps Rori company in a dark, cavernous townhouse. An obscure 1980's soft rock album they had rummaged for a few bucks plays over a crackling fireplace, skipping and hitching in places where it had been worn down or damaged by previous owners. Aurora sips coffee while Annie sanitizes a needle she'd taped to a pencil.

"Do you always carry ink on you?" Rori asks, comfortable for the first time in her new house.

"Pretty much. In case an idea hits me." 

"You just give yourself tattoos whenever you feel like it? What an edgelord." She jokes as the blonde wipes a disinfectant over her bare hip. It's a good place to hide a stick-n-poke. Not that her dad would ever be home to see it.

"Shut up." Annie cracks a smile, running her lighter of the needles point once more. "It's gonna hurt."

"I have a solid tolerance."

"Yeah right, Armin cried like a little bitch." She says almost absently, then begins pressing the needle to skin over the faint outline of Rori's chosen stencil.

"Armin has a tattoo? Shit, I thought he was up tight." Rori watches the little beads of blood mix with loose ink. The pain wasn't too bad.

"He has pretty bad anxiety, but he's cool when he's comfortable with you."

Rori couldn't help but tease. "So you guys are... comfortable?"

"Shut up." Annie fought a smile and her face prickled with a blush, poking a little harder than probably necessary.

"Does he know?"

"I don't know. Maybe. We've been friends since third grade."

"Mm. Have you thought about telling him straight up? Would you even want to?"

"He's... I don't know. He's a little in his head sometimes. I don't know how he'd react."

"It's senior year, man. What have you got to lose?" She reclined a bit into the couch, losing interest in the art on her hip bone.

"Uh, a lifetime of friendship."

"Oh, yeah, sorry I don't think about that stuff."

"No, I get it. You don't really get to keep friends, huh?"

"No." 

"Maybe since you'll be graduating here, you can go to a Sina University? Or NYU, they're pretty close together." Annie offers, a little hopeful that Rori won't leave too soon.

"Maybe. I think my dad'll only accept me following his footsteps and going to Stanford. If that's even an option with how my record looks."

"How many schools have you been to again?"

"Not counting elementary school, 14."

"Jesus." Annie says softly. "I'm sorry, it must've been rough. You're staying at Rose Wall for the year though, right?"

She shrugs. "I never know until we're two days from leaving. If that."

"Your dads kind of an asshole, man."

"You have no clue." 

.....................

Aurora is stapling papers in the office again, thankful for absent minded work. She had finally caught up with all the school work required to get full credit for her classes, which required a shit ton of overnighters and begging for answers from online tutors. The mental strain was obvious in the purple hollows of her eyes and sluggish movements.

"You look like shit." 

She internally- or externally (she was too tired to tell the difference)- groans at the voice. The burn of silver irises on her head forces her to look up.

"You smell like shit." She weakly retorts.

"You are shit. Have you been sick, why did you ditch tutoring last week?" Levi makes the switch between insults and genuine concern fast enough to give her mental whiplash, sipping a strongly scented tea.

"Yeah, sure." She sighs.

"What's that mean?"

"I'm trying to do some important work here, can you save the abuse for class time?"

"Why would I do that when I can get you one on one. Considering you don't want tutoring anymore."

"Is berating me in my native tongue considered tutoring?"

"Probably not, but what else do I have to keep me busy in this shit hole?"

"I don't know, your job?" She rolls her eyes from bottom to top so they land on him. Without looking, her hand moves to staple a packet with some force behind it for emphasis. The sleep deprivation in her muscles fails to alert her of an injury for a moment or two. Then she feels a sharp, stinging pain.

She had stapled the tip of her finger instead of the paper. 

"Well, shit." Levi speaks, bordering on amused. 

"That's... not supposed to... do that." She holds her finger up to eye-level, watching blood dribble down in a steady stream. It's a little excessive for a small wound, she thinks, but the staple had gone all the way through.

"Get up, we're going to the nurse."

"Don't you have a class?"

"They're watching a movie and this is infinitely more interesting." He snatches a tissue from the front desk and holds it out to her, hesitant to touch the blood. "Come on, let's go."

They walk relatively slowly, her seeming unbothered by the injury, if not a little fascinated. 

"You know, it's a good thing you're pretty or life would be really difficult for you."

There it is again. That word. Pretty. Even though it's meant to be a little demeaning, it makes her stomach switch places with her heart and she blushes. "You calling me stupid?"

"You just mistook your hand for a field trip permission slip."

"I haven't slept in two days." 

"Are you on coke?"

"That would've made the assload of make-up work I did this weekend a lot easier, but alas..." 

"So what you're saying is that you didn't do any of my reading assignment?" He holds the infirmary door open for her.

"Finally, you guessed something right." She walks in past him.

"Hello, what've we got- Jesus, you need a transfusion." Nurse Zöe ushers her onto a cot, pulling the bloodied tissue from her finger.

"Poor depth perception." She jokes as they analyze her wound. 

"Well, technically, with invasive wounds I'm supposed to send you to the emergency room. But if you keep it a secret, I'll take it out right here and we don't have to hassle your parents." They whisper, only just below their normal (and excessive) volume.

"Uh, yeah, no parents." She says immediately.

Levi leans on the wall. "Make sure it hurts, shitty glasses. She deserves it for being a dumb ass."

"Oh, don't be mean, Levi- I mean, Mr. Ackerman." They correct themselves, but obviously mistook his name on purpose. They pull a small pair of pliers from deep in a drawer, along with some antiseptic and gauze. "I've never had a reason to use these before."

"I don't mind being a guinea pig." She offers her finger and grits her teeth as the nurse latches on to the exposed part of the staple. 

"What's your name, sweetie?"

"Auro-RA." She shouts as the staple is swiftly pulled out. The wound gushes even more than before, spilling on the otherwise pristine floor.

"Disgusting." Levi mutters but does not avert his eyes.

Nurse Zöe cleans the still bleeding wound as best they can and wraps it tight, making her entire finger stiff and straight to keep the blood from rushing to it. "There we go. You got some sanitizing stuff at home?"

"Probably."

"If not, get some. That's not a surface level wound so it could get infected easily. Wrap it new every day, make sure it gets some air, and keep it dry. If it starts to itch or smell like almonds, come back here and I'll fix you up again."

"Thanks." She climbs off the cot. 

"Need any pain relievers?" They ask just as she reaches the door.

"Tylenol is for squares." She jokes and the nurse laughs. Levi sighs and opens the door for her again, following her out into the hall.

"You shouldn't be nice to them, they're a fucking kook."

"Or you're a bitter old man." 

"I'm not old." He snaps, looking directly at her eyes for the first time in a while. He'd been avoiding them, especially in class.

"How old is 'not old'."

"I'm only 34."

"My dad's 38. You're four years shy of being my dad."

"Yeah, well." He sips the tea that hadn't left his hand through the entire ordeal. His tone is bitter and a little distant, and she worries that she'd somehow gone too far, despite his seeming lack of boundaries. "Should I come to 'tutoring' today?"

"Is your finger okay?"

"I mean, being at home isn't gonna make it heal any faster. I might as well stay."

"Whatever, brat. See you in sixth hour." He does a two finger salute with the hand holding his cup and walks in the opposite direction, leaving her in the middle of the hallway. Why had she been walking towards his classroom?

When she makes it back to the office, Erwin seems to have finished his conference call with a concerned parent. His office door is open and he calls for her when she passes the door.

"I noticed some, uh, blood on the desk when I went to get coffee." 

She holds up her bandaged finger, a little hesitant. "I was really tired."

His back straightens and his expression becomes one of concern. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I stapled it. It's fine, the nurse cleaned it."

"Maybe you should leave a little early, get some rest."

"I'm okay. I'll go to bed early tonight."

He blinks once. Twice. "Is everything... alright at home?" He doesn't want to ask, but her eyes are void of their usual brightness. Her skin is a little lacking in color.

"Uh, yeah. I just studied a lot last night."

He's unconvinced. "Make sure you take care of yourself before anything. You'll miss a lot more making yourself sick than you will resting adequately."

"Aye-aye, captain." She says and is quite literally saved by the bell. "See you tomorrow."

"I mean it, get some sleep." He raises his voice to catch up with her as she walks away, a smile stretching across her dimpled cheeks.  



	4. ????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> K but who who's gonna buck up and tell me whether Rori is a likable character or annoying and cliche?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beats:  
> Fox Academy "Cherry Coke" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0wcZm7kCmE  
> Sales "Big Sis" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ1Jxef2hiE

"-I cannot believe how big your ego is."

"Among other things."

"Is that a dick joke."

"Oh it's no joke, baby."

Rori ignores her friends as they walk through the hall, lost in her head about something or other. When a hand grabs her arm, she jerks away. 

"Whoa, hey, sorry dude." Eren laughs, albeit nervously.

"My bad. I was zoned out." She apologizes. 

"You always are." He pushes his knuckle into her temple teasingly. "What are you doing after school? I need some help with my French study guide."

"Actually, uh, I gotta sit with Ackerman for a bit. I've been ditching tutoring for a week."

He looks dejected, expressive eyes giving every thought away. "Oh, yeah, I gotcha."

She sucks her bottom lip in and then shrugs. "You could... you could come over to my place tonight. The train ride is really long, but-"

"I'll be there." He says a little too quickly, cheeks flaming. "What time?"

"I catch the 5' o clock, so, 7ish? I have to walk home."

"I- I have a car, I can drive you from the station. We can get something to eat." 

"Just meet me at my house. I'll text you, okay?" She smiles, but the thought of sitting alone with him in a restaurant makes her palms sweat. 

"Okay, 7." He walks backward, gripping the straps of his backpack like a child.

"7." She echoes.  
.............................

"What took you so long? Did you take a shit?" Ackerman's crude humor makes her grimace.

"Yeah, anything to stay out of here." She rolls her eyes and sits down. The discomfort she'd felt the week before was virtually gone, accustomed to his unprofessional behavior now.

Usually girls freak out when he makes toilet jokes. He scoffs. "You mean to tell me you don't enjoy analyzing French literature with your favorite teacher for hours after school?"

"Hours? I'm catching the 5, with or without that book." She quips. He notes that she doesn't deny him being her favorite.

"Fine. Hurry up and tell me why Bartrand would sacrifice his years salary for Racquelle's honor." 

"Another savior complex." She speaks and he all but groans. 

"You're telling me you'd rather her have been forced into a spinster life by a tarnished reputation than have him pay a toll?"

"She had independent wealth, she wouldn't have been a spinster, just unmarried."

"That's worse in this society. Not only is she unwed, she has enough money to entice a husband and she still has none."

"You asked what I thought!"

"I asked what you read. Your interpretation."

"My interpretation is that Racquelle displayed her independence but these dudes kept forcing themselves into her life because they thought she had nice 'breasts to to suckle young' with. Which is a weird compliment."

Levi leans his chin on his hand. "You're really fucking difficult to talk to."

"Because I don't read it how you want me to?" 

"Because you have no idea what romance is, you're too young to understand."

"That girls have to be helpless damsels that men conquer with money and affluence?"

"It's about sacrifice. She needed help."

"Not everyone needs saving, Ackerman."

"Not everyone asks if they do." The edge is gone from his voice. Something else was in his eyes... pity? Was he... hinting at something? Like the time he offered to help her out?

Her hands clam up and she gets frustrated. "Maybe you should mind your business."

"You say that a lot."

"And you pry a lot. Can I go home?"

"Fine. Let's go."

"Let's?"

"It's almost two hours on the train, we'll talk about your dumb feminist critical lens on the ride home, idiot."

Shit. A train ride with Levi. Awake.

.................

Of course she'd fall asleep. The kid couldn't sit in one place for over an hour without zonking out.

Levi looks around the underpopulated train, a little nervous if he's being honest. After he's sure no students or teachers are riding in their car, he looks back over to her, studying her features a little closer. 

Angelic. The curve of her nose is slight and dainty, meeting a softly rounded tip all dusted with fading freckles. Her lashes are thick and black, long enough to rest on the upper apple of her cheeks. Her eyebrows are three shades darker than her honey colored hair, he thinks it must be a dye job. A good one, he can't see any roots. After a moment, he realizes he's looking for imperfections. Something to make her less appealing. But every little quirk, down to the rosy swollen lips that she bit so often and the messy little hairs that stuck to her forehead, draws him in. He feels protective and tender, yet predatory and lecherous at the same time. He knows he needs to put some distance between them, but he doesn't know if he can.

"Oi, wake up." He flicks her nose with some force behind it, and she shoots up. Her breath is quick, eyes as wide as he's seen them. "Hey, calm down, you're on the train." 

"Shit." She breathes, blinking with realization. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize, brat." He stands as the train comes to a stop, picking up her bag for her.

She subtly grabs for it, but he's already gripping it like a vice.

"Come on." He walks off without her, leaving her to trail behind like a child. He walks out the the parking lot, unlocking his car.

"Uh, I don't need a ride today."

"You fell asleep mid sentence an hour ago."

"Yeah... you just... you can't drive me." 

He stops, closes his car door, and turns around. "Why?"

"Because I have someone waiting for me. From school. They can't see you." She says sheepishly. 

He thinks about asking why, but what he plays off as curiosity is most definitely a burning jealousy. "Who?"

"Why does that matter?"

"It doesn't, I'm just asking."

She hesitates. Why does she feel guilty? "Eren Yeager. He's coming over for tutoring."

"Mm." He turns back around and slides into the driver seat. "Get in, I'll drop you off down the street. He won't see me."

"Uh..." she starts to protest but he's closed the door and her bag is sitting in the front seat. She climbs in and buckles herself.

"You guys dating?" He asked immediately. His tone was normal, but he held the steering wheel like it was trying to escape him. 

"Is that your business?"

"No." He shrugs.

"We're just friends."

"But he likes you?"

"I guess."

"You like him."

"I... I don't know." She looks out the window. It begins to drizzle. "He's... nice."

"And boring."

She feels her temper rising again. "And who does deserve my attention, Ackerman. You?"

He scoffs, but doesn't answer. The ride is silent from then on, save the hum of a too-quiet radio.

He parks a block from her house. "Let me give you my number. In case you need anything." 

She hesitates but hands him her phone. "This picture is stupid." He refers to her screensaver; her and Annie making the ugliest faces they could. He hands her phone back after a moment, her fingers accidentally overlapping with his. "Thanks. See you tomorrow." She grabs her bag and jumps out before he can say anything else. His eyes fall to the edge of her skirt as she turns around. The slam of the door shocks him out of the train of thought he really shouldn't have been heading down.

She hears Ackerman's car peel out and race off. As she climbs the steep hill, the stoop of her house comes into sight. Eren sits on the top steps, perking up at the sight of her. 

"Hey! Sorry I got here a little early."

"No, it's okay." She smiles, struggling up the steps and sitting beside him. "You promised something to eat."

"Oh, yeah, of course, let's go." He hopped up and jumped down the steps. His energy was refreshing, he reminded her of a puppy. 

She fastened herself in his front seat. Eren swerved out from his parallel park job and hit the gas immediately. He drove like he walked, fast and with purpose.

"You alright, speed racer?" She asks.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry. I'm excited."

"About what?"

"Uh." He blushes. "Hanging out with you. You know, without everybody else."

"Oh." She nods. "So where are we going?"

"I know a really good place, they have the best chili fries."

"That sounds stupid good right now."

They sit across from one another, a giant plate of the aforementioned meal between them and two milkshakes to the side. With greasy fingers, Eren flips the page of his French textbook.

"You have to say it kind of like you have peanut butter in your mouth. And purse your lips."

"Like this?"

She laughs at his silly face. "Yeah, sure. Now repeat after me. J'ai deux pommes, I have two apples."

"J'ai deux pommes, I have two apples." His accent is still flat and embarrassingly American, but at least he gives an honest effort.

"Closer." She pops a fry into her mouth.

"How about you speak and I listen and try to absorb it."

"You just wanna stop studying."

"And I like to listen to you talk." He grins mischievously. "It's hot."

Rori nudges him under the table. "Dork. But since you asked, J'aimerais avoir quatre tétons plutôt que deux. Tout mon cul est un boeuf rôti. Il y a des elfes qui vivent dans mon vagin (I'd like to have four nipples instead of two. My whole ass is a roast beef. There are elves living in my vagina)."

"Did... did you just say vagina?"

"Of course not. Are you insulting my language?" She feigns insult and he flusters. "What? No, sorry! I just- sorry." 

She laughs and sips her milkshake. "I'm kidding, I totally did."

"Wait, really, what did you say about it?" He leans forward, interest obviously peaked.

"Nothing."

"I can't learn if you don't translate."

"That wasn't part of the deal."

"Please!"

"I said there are elves living in it."

He cracks up. "Oh, yeah because that's a common phrase to learn."

"I'm keeping you on your toes."

"Tell me something that'll impress Ackerman tomorrow."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, like a compliment. But not gay."

"Everything is gay in France."

"I'm serious! I want him to like me." Eren pouts childishly. 

She thinks a moment. "Fine. Listen carefully, okay? Mon trou du cul est béant pour votre bite épaisse." She says every word slowly, and he tries to repeat it the best he can.

They go back and forth for a moment, her instructing and him repeating. It takes everything in her not to laugh. Finally he gets the pronunciation reasonably understandable.

"What does it mean?"

"It means 'your tie matches your shoes quiet nicely'." She lies.

"That's... kinda gay."

"You want my help or not?"

"Fine." He sighs.


	5. ?????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trust no one. Especially cute French girls with stupid names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Party on dude:  
> Rosemary Fairweather "Moonlight" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvLfLU2n7Og  
> Beach House "Space Song" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBtlPT23PTM

The next day passes and Rori had completely forgotten about her instructional.

When Eren enters class just before the bell, she perks up, suddenly recalling the grueling effort she had put into his 'lesson'.

"Bonjour monsieur Ackerman." He half-shouts to Levi, a dopey grin on his face.

"Sit down, assface."

Eren meets Rori's eyes and she gives him a thumbs up, chest threatening to burst with laughter.

"Mon trou du cul est béant pour votre bite épaisse (my asshole is gaping for your thick cock)." He says confidently, hardly messing up his pronunciation. 

Levi spits tea on his desk, and Rori can't help but cackle. Everyone in the room stares as Levi struggles to compose himself, then shoots daggers at Eren. "Get the fuck out of my class."

"What? I thought- Rori said-" he blurts, looking to her for help.

"You said it, not me." She struggles for air, wiping her eyes.

"You little shit. Get out." Ackerman tosses a whiteboard eraser at her head.

"Sorry, sorry." She laughs, clutching her stomach and slipping out of the classroom with a flustered, confused Eren.

"What did I say?" Eren begs once they're in the hall. 

"I- I can't-" she struggles. "I can't breathe."

"Aurora!" He whisper shouts, grabbing her shoulders. "He's gonna kill me, what did I say?"

"Some gay shit, bro." She finally composed herself, wiping tears from her face.

"Jesus Christ." Eren breathes.

They both jump when the door opens and slams shut. Levi stands in the hall with his arms crossed. "Jaeger, you're a dumb ass for listening to her. Go sit down and I better not hear from you for the rest of the year."

"Y-yes, sir." He stutters and rushes back into the classroom.

Aurora suddenly feels guilty, faltering under his menacing glare. "Sorry I... thought it'd be funny."

"You're a piece of shit." He says harshly, but his mouth suddenly twitches into a smile. "But it was pretty funny. I can't let you off though, go sit with your buddy Erwin."

"You mean, Mr. Smith? What do I tell him?"

"That I'm a huge gaping asshole. And that you have lunch detention for two weeks." He speaks dismissively and waves her off, walking back into his classroom.

.....................

"Did you get detention?" 

"Yeah, two weeks." 

"You deserve it." Eren interjects, shoving her shoulder lightly.

"I definitely do." She laughs.

"Well, what did you say?" Annie asks.

"It's a secret."  
.......................................  
Detention isn't too bad, it turns out. Well, watching Ackerman eat isn't. Hearing him speak is.

"Tu manges comme un cochon (you eat like a pig)."

She looks up from her book, opening her mouth to expose all the half chewed food in it. He grimaces. "Disgusting."

It's silent again, so she looks up. He watches the computer screen, scrolling with one hand and popping food neatly into his mouth with the other. He slides his finger over his tongue to clean it, and she melts into a puddle on her desk. He looks up just as she averts her gaze, choosing instead to stare out at the light layer of snow just outside the window.

It had been like this for the last two weeks. No conversation, aside from mild insults thrown back and forth and avoiding gazes. She was sure she caught him staring at her every so often, but convinced herself it was because he hated how she ate. Which he voiced over and over and over.

She peels her banana, wrapping her lips around it to avoid mussing expertly applied lipgloss.

Levi looks over at the worst possible time, eyes widening as her lips slide over it. His throat tightens and he shifts his legs uncomfortably. He's always been a sucker for phallic symbolism. 

"Dude, Bartrand is so annoyi-" she looks up, the bite of banana stuffed into one of her cheeks. She stops. "Are you- blushing?" 

He clears his throat and averts his eyes to the computer. "No."

She narrows her eyes and swallows. "Mhm."

"Don't you have another class to get to?"

"I'm an office assistant next hour."

"Whatever, go assist the office."

"What, you don't like my company anymore?" She jokes.

That constipated look on his face remains and he doesn't meet here eyes. A pang of rejection shoots the smile from her face. "Yeah, fine. Whatever." Quietly, she gathers her things and tosses unfinished food in the trash beside his desk.

She looks back at him once more before leaving. There's still twenty minutes left for lunch so Rori hightails it to her friend's table in the far corner of the courtyard. "I thought Ackerman locked you up?" Eren's face twists in confusion.

"Yeah, did you get a good punishment, Rori?" Jean wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and Marco punches his arm.

"Shut up, Kierschtein. He let me out early because he thinks I eat gross."

"What? You look cute when you eat." Eren jumps to your defense, the table laughing at his dorky come on.

"Thanks?" She laughs and sits down beside Annie.

"Anyways, we were gonna text you to ask if-"

Jean interrupts Eren and leans into her face. "My cousin works at The Colossal. He said he could get us in tonight."

"Wait," she stops, eyes widening. "Isn't that where The Survey Corpse are playing tonight?"

"Yeah, baby." He holds his hand up for a high five which she delivers with a squeal.

"Holy shit! We don't need IDs? Isn't it a super expensive club? Won't security be crazy?" She babbles, face lighting up with excitement.

"Nah, horseface figured it all out." Annie grinned. "We just give his cousin $20 each and he'll get us in."

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Jean, you're the best!" 

"My preferred payment is you wearing the shortest skirt you own." He grins and this time Eren punches his arm. "Or whatever you're most comfortable in."

Rori is unfazed, already thinking about her closet. "I'll do your makeup." Annie offers. "Can we get ready at your place since it's uptown?" Mikasa asks and Sasha nods in agreement.

"Yeah, of course."

"I can get us pregame drinks. My sisters ID picture looks exactly like me." Ymir pipes up, arm tossed loosely around Historia's neck.

"Wait, are we invited?" Reiner smirks. 

"It's girls only. We'll meet you guys at the concert." Annie cuts in.

"Oh, looks like Armin can go." Reiner teases.

"Eat a bag of dicks, Braun." The slighter blonde snaps, coincidentally in the middle of fixing his fashionably messy man bun.

"Why would I eat your favorite meal?" Reiner retorts.

"Leave him alone." Annie tosses her plastic fork at Reiner. "Invite Arlert to the cocktail hour." She whispers into Annie's ear. 

"No way." She answers immediately, earning the attention of the group.

"Secrets don't make friends." Jean teases. 

"But they're so much fun." Rori bats her eyelashes and leans into Annie's side.


	6. ??????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sexual Tension Town, population you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the lyrics are from BORNS' "Dopamine" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJOy9x-Xb78) so I figure like... listen to the whole album? Because it's all amazing? But also this fits the sexual tension following the literal panic on the dance floor: "Daddy Issues" The Neighborhood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnLAa6_hB9A)

"Lemme feel that stream of dopamine, lemme feel that stream of dopamine!" Rori screams over the music. Survey Corpse's debut album had been her favorite since it dropped, but tickets had sold so fast for the tour she thought she'd never get to see them.

"Hot as hell and I'm thinking, baby, baby, baby can you take away my pain?" Sasha jumps from couch to couch, a feather boa that she'd apparently brought along wrapped around her neck.

Annie sits in front of a mirror, fixing Mikasa's eyeliner with some q-tips and slapping Ymir's hand away from her freshly made up face.

"You look so good, Rori!" Historia gushes. She'd been the first to receive a makeover, and it suited her perfectly. A crisp cut crease and a brownish pink lip to make her attention-demanding eyes pop. Instead of making her feel self conscious, she felt proud of her features. Beautiful even.

Rori grabs her hands and spins her around to the music. They'd both had one of Ymir's self-named 'Cherry poppers'; a mix of cherry coke and vanilla schnapps. The two smallest of the group, it had already dizzied them up and rendered them to similarly cuddly drunken states. 

"You're so cute!"

"You're so cute!"

"I love you!" Rori wrapped her arms around her and hugged tight.

"So, no more alcohol until we actually get to the club." Ymir laughs, petting her girlfriend's hair as Rori squeezes her.

"Lemme fix this mop. It's all crazy now." Annie grabs Rori and sits her down, pinning back some loose curls and pumping some volume into the back with mousse. "There we go. You just went from fourteen year old catholic school girl to ambiguously college aged party girl."

"Hot. What should I wear?" She slumps on the vanity table, cheeks ruddy with alcohol. "I know you prefer to dress like a perverted priest's dream, but I brought you something." Mikasa interrupts, rummaging in her bag.

"Nothing you have is gonna fit me, you have melon tits and I have like... appricots." She flattens her hand around her own breast then pushes them together for some semblance of cleavage. 

"You just don't have the right bra. Or these." She holds up two silicone slabs. "Chicken cutlets."

"What? You put chicken in your bra?"

"It's just the name, dumby. You put them in and they jiggle like real ones so no one knows the difference. Adds like two sizes."

"What the fuck?" Ymir snatches one and squeezes. "Do you wear these?"

"No, but I have them for special occasions." Mikasa shrugs, motioning to her overflowing tits.

"Genius." Rori breathes in wonder, taking the other and rubbing it against her cheek. "How do I put them in?"

"Scoop your boob and slide it in under. Then put this on." Mikasa tosses her a flash of fabric.

"What is this?" 

"A dress."

"It looks like a leg warmer."

"Just put it on!" 

"Fine!" Rori snatches the other chicken cutlet from Ymir and takes the dress to the kitchen, weary of changing directly in front of everyone but too tipsy to stumble to the bathroom. 

After a good five minutes of squeezing herself into the garment and stuffing her bra, she emerges, hardly mobile. 

"Holy. Shit." Sasha covers her mouth, eyes wide.

"I'm so gay." Ymir gasps, then covers Historia's eyes. "You're so gay!"

"Woah, mama. Don't steal my girlfriend." Historia hiccups, peeling Ymir's hands away to have a look. 

The dress fit like a glove, maybe even tighter. It was simple, but effective in raising Rori's hypothetical age a few years. The cutlets did wonders to her boobs, delivering on all of Mikasa's promises and more. The spandex pulled all her curves in and brought out a waist no one had expected. 

"Who knew you had an ass?" Annie scoffed. "You messed up your lipstick putting that fuckin' tube sock on, get over here. Do you own some heels?"

.........

"Holy shit." Eren breathes, hardly audible above the drum of muffled club music.

"Hey, handsome buddy." Rori grabs his hand and squeezes it, only to have Annie pull her back. "She's already trashed."

"Rad." Jean laughs, tossing his arm over Eren and Marco's shoulders. "Can't wait to crack open a cold one with the boys."

"Your shirt looks so good, Jeanie. It makes you look like you have muscles." Rori teases.

"Nice dress, it makes you look like you have jugs." He fires back. "Let's fucking go! Woo!" He leads the group around the line to the back of the club where a group of men in black t shirts sit with cigarettes and empty beer cans.

"Mike, my man, as promised!" Jean shouts over the music, bear hugging a tall stoic man. 

The man sniffs him. "You're already drunk."

"Why spend $5 a drink when I can chug my dads secret stash?" Jean pulls $20 from his pants and hands it to Mike. The man smells the bill as well and lets horse face into the doorway.

"Mm mm, love Friday night scenery." One of the men grins at the group of girls, only to be met with Ymir's middle finger. "Bite me, hetero."

The club is smoky inside, the air thick with perspiration and the overpowering must of weed. 

"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen." Sasha pats Rori's shoulder excitedly as they trail in behind the stage and to the main dance floor.

"I wanna stand up front." Rori shouts, but only Eren and Annie catch her words and follow her as she pushes through the vibrating crowd.  
.......................

"You're so uptight, Levi, have some fun!" Hange cries as they finally enter the club.

"I'm too old for this shit. If I wanted to pay $5 a drink, I want it to be good shit. Not watered down piss from some dumb ass college kid." He growls, following his peers to a table at the balcony over the stage.

Erwin left this month's 'night out' to Hange, who had chosen a new night club uptown to see a band they'd been gushing over for a month. Levi had been conned into going with the promise of a deep cleaned classroom carpet.

"Lighten up, old man." They cried, heading straight for the surging dance floor. Levi was already getting a fucking migraine.

"This is... different." Erwin laughs, signaling to the bartender that he needs two drinks. "What'll it be, Levi?"

"The highest alcohol content I can get for $20. I want a whole bottle." He grimaces and leaned over the balcony edge to scan the crowd.

....................

"You brought a flask?" Eren asks in surprise, watching Rori chug. She winced, forcing herself to swallow. 

"What did you say?"

"You brought a flask?"

"What?"

"Never mind!" He waves her off, frustrated at his inability to hear.

She shrugs and keeps dancing. Hesitantly, he puts his hands on her hips. When she doesn't push him away, he relaxes and starts to dance around as well. After a while, he takes the flask from her and tries his hand at the harsh liquid. Immediately after swallowing, he coughs. She laughs and pats his back. 

The lights go down and the music stops, the crowd screams in excitement and Rori hugs Eren's bicep. "Get on my shoulders!" He shouts in her ear.

She nods, not caring about her dress riding up as Eren bends and hoists her up. The lights come back on, revealing the band. They play a song in lieu of greeting the crowd. 

"The sunlight in your eyes, green like American money. You taste just right, sweet like Tennessee honey. And we can run away-" she sings, holding her hands up. The air high above the mob of young people cools off her sweaty skin. Eren spins around, holding her upper thighs to keep her stable.  
.................

Levi sips his second cocktail, looking out on the crowd instead of the stage. Dumb asses. If there's anything he hates more than young adults, it's inebriated young adults. 

His eyes catch a flash of red. A dress. A tight one. While he hates drunk college girls, he definitely doesn't mind their outfit choices.

He looks a little closer, a flash of light illuminating her as whoever's shoulders she is hoisted on spin to face the balcony. Levi chokes on his drink, sputtering into his arm sleeve as he struggles to catch his breath.  
..............……

"Get down here and dance!" Jean shouts from below her, pulling her arm. The others had found them in the crowd, dancing all around. Annie held Armin's hands, swinging them back and forth and spinning. 

Rori slides from Eren's neck to Jean's arms, stabilizing herself on the stupid high heels she knew she'd regret. 

"Baby, baby, baby, can you take away my pain? Wanna feel that stream of dopamine, wanna feel that stream of dopamine!" They scream in unison.

She feels a hand slide around the front of her, assuming Eren had gotten handsy. Too happy to care, she keeps dancing until her dress is being subtly tugged up, a hand on the inside of her thighs. "Fuck off!" She shrieks, fighting it off.

When she turns around, the man is a complete stranger, still grabbing for her short dress. Eren quickly realizes what's happening and pushes the man by his chest. When he pushes back, they throw punches, knocking over people around them as they struggle on the floor.

"Eren, stop!" She shouts over the music, trying to grab for her friend. A hand pulls her arm back firmly, but gently, dragging her from the squabble. "Hey, stop!" She tries to bat it away, but isn't strong or stable enough to escape the vice-like grip.

"Shut up, brat." She turns her head, meeting a familiar undercut. Her stomach does a double flip and dives into her stomach. "Mr. Ackerman, how-" she breathes. He drags her from the club and onto the sidewalk, not stopping until they are halfway down the street and she's limping pitifully behind him. "Mr. Ackerman, let go." She begs.

He turns around, features consumed with fury. "What the fuck were you doing in there? You're a kid, you could've gotten hurt. You know how many creeps there are in there? You're lucky Yeager pulled him off of you when he did."

She sniffs, but bites back tears. "I can take care of myself." 

"Obviously." He scoffs. "I'm taking you home." He looks around for his car before remembering Hange had been the designated driver. "Shit."

"I'll take myself home. I don't need you." She hugs herself, stumbling while standing in place.

He grabs her shoulder and tilts her chin up with his other hand, staring into her eyes. "Open your mouth."

She swallows but obeys. 

"You're drunk." He mutters, the pungeance of alcohol radiating from her lips. 

"It doesn't matter, I can-" she pushes his hand away and reaches for her bag. Her bag that it definitely not on her shoulder. "Oh my god. I dropped my purse. I dropped it when I was trying to get away." She groans. "It had everything! My keys, my money-"

"We're not going back in there. Erwin and some other teachers are having a night out, they can't see you." He shook his head. "We'll figure something out. Come on."

She drops her head but walks beside him, the pain of her blistered feet finally catching up to her. After a half a mile of her limping, Levi stops and crouches to the sidewalk. "Get on my back, dumbass."

"I'm fine."

"You walk like you have polio, get on my fucking back."

Too tired to be stubborn, she wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He stands up easily and continues walking, as if she weighed nothing.

Rori sighs, putting her face in the crook of his neck. He resists the urge to shudder under the warmth of her breath. The smell of alcohol and vanilla purfume is overpowering. "Are you disappointed in me?" She mumbles, lips unintentionally pressed against his skin. 

"I was doing much worse at your age." He admits, entering a nearly empty 24 hour diner. The waitress doesn't look twice as Rori slides from his back to the floor and links her arm with his for balance. They are led to a table near the back, adjacent to a window. The city is quiet. 

"Are you okay?" He asks, voice soft, after ordering some coffees and greasy food. 

"That's a loaded question."

He chuckles. "I mean did that creep hurt you?"

"You saw the whole thing?"

"Enough."

She leans her head on a limp wrist. "I'm fine, I just... I shouldn't have worn this. I shouldn't have had anything to drink."

"It has nothing to do with your dress. Men will be disgusting regardless of what you wear, trust me." He mutters the last phrase, looking up briefly at the waitress as she pours them coffee. "However, you shouldn't have been there at all. But I guess with a skirt that small you can get in anywhere." He jokes.

Her eyes narrow. "This dress is short on purpose."

"A divine one, I'm sure, mon petit (my little one)." 

She blinks at the endearing term but says nothing. They both sip their coffees, though their eyes seem to scream at one other.

"Are you drunk?"

"I've been drinking, but I'm not drunk. Unfortunately, I can't get shitfaced from one sissy mixer like you."

"I'm not a lightweight." She pouts. "I had three."

"Edgy." He rolls his eyes. "Who gave you dumbasses alcohol anyways?"

"I'm not a snitch."

"You think I care enough to actually get you all in trouble?"

"I mean, you dragged me out of a concert to eat breakfast with you, so..." she slipped off her stilettos and pushed them to the floor. "And you're always insisting on driving me home, and keeping me after class, and during lunch, and-"

"Yeah, I get it." He cuts her off, suddenly realizing just how desperately he'd been consuming her attention. 

"I'd say you care a whole shitload more than any of my other teachers." She continues. "But it's weird, because I-" she hiccups. "Don't really see you as a teacher. I see you more as a person. Like a real person."

"Is that a good thing?" 

"Probably not." Her smile is bashful but mischievous, hinting at something more.

If the liquor hadn't loosened his morality, he wouldn't have to ask, "Are you flirting with me?"

His face is dead serious, as always. She thinks about backing down, but her words spill out like vomit. "It's about time you noticed."

Though his stoic facade remains steadfast, his heart begins to thud. "Shithead." He murmurs, kicking himself for his instinct to be an asshole.

She's glad he isn't upset, but unsatisfied with his response. "I don't know how I'll get back into my place. There's no extra key."

"We can call your landlord." 

"My dad owns it."

"A locksmith then." He shrugs. "But that may take a while."

"Ugh. I'm so tired." She lays her head on the table. 

He grits his teeth. He knows he'll regret this. "You'll stay at my place. We can figure it out tomorrow."

She stays still a moment before sitting up as she mulls over the meaning of his words. "What do you... are you sure?"

"What else am I supposed to do with you? Waste money on a motel room?" 

"I could... I could call my-"

"With what phone? Do you know any of your friends numbers?"

She thinks a moment. "Shit. Yeah, okay."

The windows glow with fluorescent conversation as they walk, her hoisted on his back once more.

He hails a taxi, taking her bare feet into his lap as they sit to avoid them touching the potentially disgusting floor. 

She looks up at his apartment building, swaying with the wind as Levi pays the cab driver. "Come on." He herds her inside past a sleeping doorman.

Before they step into the elevator, he lifts her again, this time like she's a small child. Her head drums, too nauseous to enjoy the intimacy of their embrace. "These floors are disgusting." He mutters, as if either of them need a reason.

13 floors and five minutes later, he's unlocking the door with one hand and pushing it open with a foot. He flips on the lights as they walk, then drops her unceremoniously on the bed in his single room.

"I'm- I can't sleep in bed with you."

He looks at her like she'd said the stupidest thing possible. "No, shit bird-brain. I'm sleeping on the couch."

"What? No, I should sleep on the couch. I'm the one who-"

"Shut up or I'll make you sleep in the hall." He rummages through drawers, pulling out a large pink sweater and some gym shorts. "That's all I have. Go change."

She holds the garments, rubbing the sweater between her fingers. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Did." He says quietly, then closes the drawer and points at a door she assumes to be the bathroom. "Shower. You smell like shit."

With aching, blistered feet, she walks in, steadying herself on the counter. The dress is a fucking nightmare to get off, involving way more shimmying and pinching than she had the energy to do. Her thong had ridden up so high that taking it off was like releasing a sling shot. Sweat had stuck the chicken cutlets in her bra to the skin so taking them off was like removing band aids.

Everything was as orderly and clean as she had imagined, which she had. Many times. She didn't want to make a mess, but it was almost impossible to avoid in such a clumsy state. The shower took a minute or two to figure out, but once it was on, the warm water was a blessing she hadn't known she needed. 

She scrubs off her makeup and uses the shampoo she'd smelt so subtly on Levi. 

He sits in the living room, hand to his mouth and leg vibrating anxiously. What the fuck had he done? He could be arrested for this if anyone found out. How could he play this off? Bringing a drunk, scantily clad, underage student to his apartment for the night? There was no way to prove he hadn't taken advantage of her. Especially with how much he genuinely wanted to. The restraint he held was simply moral now, seeing as the moment she entered his apartment building was enough to indict him. Shit. Shit.

She pulls the fluffy sweater on, rolling the waist of his gym pants so they fit her, then wrapping the towel around her wet curls. She gargles some mouth wash to get the undesirable taste out of her mouth and folds her clothes up the best she can. 

Though she's still intoxicated, she feels significantly less foggy. Without the shield of alcohol, her body allows her mind to finally understand the reality of the situation. She's alone. In Mr. Ackerman's apartment. 

"Took you long enough." 

Her cheeks pulse with the beat of her heart, lighting a dark pink. Luckily, they'd been that way since she started drinking. "Couldn't figure out the shower."

"Mm." He sits on the bed, looking absently at her hands. "What the fuck are those?"

She looks down, realizing her chicken cutlets were sitting on top of the pile. "Oh, they make it look like you have big boobs. Mikasa lent them to me." 

He can't help but laugh. "You don't think that's false advertising?"

"I'm not a fucking sandwich, Ackerman. It's to fill out the dress, not sell myself to sweaty white dudes in a night club."

"Yeah, whatever." He runs a hand over his face. "And call me Levi. It makes this weirder if you keep reminding me I'm twice your age."

"It doesn't need to be weird." She stands in front of the bed, not crossing the boundary of sitting on it with him.

"Oh, it definitely does. This is weird and you need to know why it's weird." He looks at her sternly. "If anybody found out you were here, I'd go to jail."

"What? But you didn't do anything wrong."

Yet. He shakes his head. "Doesn't matter what happened, it's how it looks. You can't tell anyone you were here. Or that I saw you tonight. And I mean anyone."

She chews her bottom lip. "I promise." 

He glances up, the pink sweatshirt he'd known so well on another now on her. "This is a one time thing, on Monday it never happened."

"I understand." 

He wants to say something more, but he stands and walks to the bedroom door. "Go to bed. We'll talk in the morning." 

She stays a moment, then climbs into the giant bed and folds herself up as small as she can beneath the blankets. As conflicted as she feels. the stress of the night forces her into sleep.


	7. ???????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it a walk of shame if you didn't bang?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a listen to this, daddy-o:  
> Fleetwood Mac "Dreams" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mrZRURcb1cM  
> Mountain Man "Animal Tracks"  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=02hHRnfh6SY
> 
> Please comment some outrage or praise or unrelated bullshit, I live for validation.

She wakes in a few hours and spends a moment trying to remember where she is. Her headache is gone but her feet hurt even worse than the night before. She stumbles into the bathroom, wiping toothpaste across her gritty teeth with a finger. She splashes her face with water and slides the door of Levi's bedroom open.

He's sprawled across the sofa, an arm thrown over his eyes to shield from light. The relaxed rise and fall of his chest indicates he's still sleeping. His bare torso inspires thoughts, dirty thoughts, before she can stop them. She feels guilty. He'd made it fairly clear the night before that she could get him in some real trouble, trouble that he didn't want. He was just being nice, after all.

She wanders into his kitchen, which is oddly cut off from the living room. His apartment is minimalistic and modern, full of sharp angles and clean lines. It reminds her of an apartment her father had bought in Baltimore. The familiarity puts her at ease.

After quietly rummaging through his food, she resolves to make some omelettes. Maybe some potatoes too. No, fruit sounds better. 

She puts coffee on, cuts some tomatoes and spinach, folds the eggs with some cheese inside. While it cooks, she switches on the small clock radio over the sink. Most of the stations are garbage but she finds one playing Fleetwood Mac. The volume is quiet, she doesn't think he'll hear it from the living room. 

Levi wakes slowly, processing his surroundings. The sun is bright, which means it's the weekend and he'd been able to sleep in. His neck hurts, attributed to spending the night on the couch. The air smells nice, something is cooking. He hears music. Humming. Shit, he'd forgotten she was here.

He wipes a hand over his face and pulls his t-shirt back on. The noise is louder in the kitchen, more real. Levi leans his shoulder against the doorway. Her back is facing him, she flips something in the skillet. Brat obviously helped herself to his food. He wants to be annoyed- truly, he does- but his heart softens at the sight. She looks ridiculous in the oversized pink sweater. She looks like a child playing dress up. She looks... Perfect. 

The steam of the coffee machine makes a halo around tendrils that escape from her hair clips as she dances around a kitchen that isn't hers. She's oblivious to his presence, making the whole thing more endearing. She's authentically adorable.

He clears his throat and the spatula drops from her hands to the counter. "Shit!"

"Morning to you too."

She blushes, motioning awkwardly to the stovetop. "Thought I'd make hangover food. If that's okay."

"Well, it's already done isn't it?" He walks up beside her and looks at the pan. "Did you put-"

"Just spinach and tomatoes and cheese. And pepper. And salt. And almondmilk. Which is gross by the way." 

"No, cow titty juice is gross. You know how much of that shit is just pus and white blood cells?" He grimaces. "Tastes like shit too."

"Old man." She mutters, grabbing the plates she'd rummaged through his cabinets for. He takes the spatula and flips an omelette onto each plate. She pours coffee. He asked for it black last night at the diner, she remembers. She takes it black too.

"This is good." He says after a while, thankful for the radio to fill the silence. 

"Thanks, my mom taught me to cook." 

"Mine too." He takes another bite and swallows. "Is she in Tokyo with your dad?"

"Uh, no." Rori regrets mentioning her. 

Levi notes her discomfort, but pushes a little more. "They divorced?"

"She's dead."

He pauses his coffee at his mouth and lowers it again. "I'm sorry."

"Mm." She doesn't want to talk about it anymore. They're silent again, but oddly it isn't uncomfortable. 

She bends her head to take a bite, scared to spill on his table. He'd never seen such poetry as he did in the crest of her neck.

"I should probably go." She speaks after cleaning the breakfast dishes with him in silence.

"You'd need a key to your house to do that."

"I'll walk to Annie's and ask to borrow her phone. Call my dad and a locksmith."

"Just stay, Aurora. It's cold." He meets her eyes again, his gaze dancing between them. He's looking for something. 

"I've bothered you enough this weekend." She smiles awkwardly. "Thanks for not like... freaking out on me for drinking." 

"If kids didn't do dumb shit, they wouldn't be kids." He leans back in the kitchen chair. "Let me drive you to Annie's."

"I want to walk, clear up my head."

"What about this-", he pulls one of her curls, "Needs clearing?"

She can't help but smile, rubbing one of her eyes. "I gotta figure out some stuff."

"Like what?" He pushes, expression blank and unreadable.

"You're so nosy."

"Tell me. Consider it payment for room and board."

She clicks her tongue. Of course she can't tell him about how badly she wants to hop into his lap and play hockey with their tongues. "You wouldn't know what to do with my secrets, Levi."

He revels at the sound of his name in her mouth. "Try me." His voice is just the subtlest bit lower. 

Boy would she like to. "Not over my dead body." She walks from the kitchen to the bedroom, where her clothes are stacked on the floor. He follows closely, having scooted his chair back at record speed. "That can be arranged."

She laughs and shakes her head. "You know, after being so vehement about putting boundaries between us, you're really interested in my personal life." She sits on the edge of the bed to face him, holding her dress and heels. 

One push. One push and he could have her laying against those sheets, perfectly vulnerable and obviously willing. He sticks his hands in his pockets as if they need distraction.

"What, you wanna go out there in the snow or humor me, shit head?" He sits himself on the floor beneath her, leaning back on his elbows. 

She puts her things to the side and slides to the floor with him. "How about you just ask me something, and I'll try to answer."

"What, like 20 questions? Are we twelve."

"Humor me." She mocks him.

"Fine." He rolls his eyes. "What's the deal with your dad? Why are you living alone?"

"It's... complicated."

"I can keep up." Her assures her, gaze as intense as ever.

She licks her lips absently and tries to figure out how to reveal the least amount of information possible while seeming forthcoming. "We moved around a lot. Maybe two or three times a year, wherever my dad's newest office or factory was. He liked to be involved in his business. I was thirteen when she died. My mom, I mean." She pulls her knees to her chest. "My dad was never really around, but he made us go everywhere with him. She hated it. They fought a lot. Then she died and my dad completely checked out. I had nannies for a while until he got tired of finding new ones every move. Now he just puts grand in my bank account and calls once every month, if he doesn't forget. Usually it's his personal assistant that checks up on me, but I guess they've been fucking for a while because he just married her." 

Levi blinks. "Shit. That's-"

"It's fine. It's not like I'm starving or anything, I get taken care of." She cuts him off, not looking for sympathy.

"You know there are different kinds of abuse, right?" He sits up straight. "Giving you money doesn't absolve him from parenting. It's still neglect, and it still hurts."

"What about your parents?" She shifts the attention from herself. 

He knows what she's doing. "I don't want to talk about me."

"You said-"

"No you said I can ask you questions, not the other way around." He corrects. Rori pouts her mouth.

"Fine. But after I answer, you have to move on to the next question."

He swipes his hair back and gives into the nagging curiousity in his head. "Last night. At that diner, you said you were flirting with me."

Her abdomen tenses excitedly. "What's the question?" She mentally applauds herself for managing a relaxed tone.

"Were you... serious?" He asks, deadpan but hesitant.

"I... I was drunk." She breaks eye contact and fidgets with her hair. "Uh, you know, I should go and figure out how to get back into my house."

"Yeah, I'll grab my keys." He gets to his feet abruptly, just as awkward in his reaction as she is.

The drive is silent, he doesn't bother turning on the radio. For a Saturday morning, the streets are awfully empty. Not that he's complaining.

"Thanks." She unbuckles but doesn't get out. Annie's house isn't the place she wants to be right now, but it's her only choice until the locksmith can make her a spare key.

He scans her face, very obviously darting to her lips a few times. "It wasn't any trouble. Brat." He adds for good measure. 

She smiles and his fingers twitch on the gear shift, itching to touch the soft skin of her face. "I'll see you Monday. Maybe we can... maybe we can get something to eat again." She knows he said it was a one time thing but she can't help herself. She wants more opportunities to be with him.

His inexpressive features soften just the slightest bit. This time he doesn't stop his hand from planting on top of her hair. Scared that the gesture is too innapropriate, he gently shoves her head in teasing. "Sure. Now go get some real clothes on."

She opens the door and closes it, turning around to wave at him before marching to Annie's front step, ready for an awkward explanation of her predicament.

...............

"You what?" 

"I stayed at some dudes house. He drove me here." She lays on the plush rug in Annie's room, her friend sitting just across.

"Oh my god, are you okay? Did you sleep with him, did something happen, how did you-"

"I'm fine, nothing happened. I met him a while ago, ran into him after I got separated from Eren during that fight. Is he okay?"

"I mean, he got kicked out and Marco had to drive him home. He was hell bent on finding you because he had your bag. We were scared you got kidnapped or something." 

Rori breathes in relief. "He has my shit, thank god. That's why I left, I couldn't find anybody and I was too drunk to walk home."

"I'm glad you came here, we were worried, man." Annie pats her leg. "And also... I have something to tell you."

Rori looks at her in question. "What?"

"It's a secret."

"Spill."

Annie smiles bashfully, an expression Rori hadn't seen before. "Me and Armin... we-" 

"Oh my god."

"Yeah."

"Shit! I'm-! Oh my god, I knew it! I'm so happy for you" Rori gushes, cheeks matching Annie's in their pink tone. "How- how did it happen?"

"He stayed after it closed to help me look for you. Then we went out back to smoke a joint and..." she trails off. 

"Outside?" Rori gasps. "Annie!"

"I know." She laughs, pressing a hand to her warm face. "It was amazing. He does this thing with his-"

"As happy as I am that you got some bomb dick, I really don't need the whole rundown."

"Yeah right, you know you love it pervert." She teases and Rori giggles. 

"Yeah, yeah. Can you ask Eren to come over and bring my purse? I need to get myself together."  
....................

Eren insists on driving her home, switching the temperature in his car three times and asking if she's comfortable on each setting, all of which she answers yes to.

"You scared the shit out of me when you disappeared."

"I know, I'm sorry. I was so trashed I wasn't thinking." She bites her lip. "Thank you for... everything actually. You didn't have to fight that creep."

"Yeah I did." He says sharply. "I'd fight anybody that hurt you."

As corny as it is, she smiles tenderly and leans her head on his shoulder. "You're the best."

He swallows a lump in his throat, words failing him for the rest of the ride. 

"You wanna come in?" She says absently as she hops up to the door. 

"Uh, sure, yeah."

Shit, she'd forgotten that the girls had been over to get ready. The floor is littered with unfamiliar clothing, empty solo cups and bottles on the coffee table. "Wow, you guys went hard last night." Eren laughs, closing the door behind him.

"Sorry, I totally forgot about the mess." She flips light switches and immediately starts scooping up things from the floor. Silently, Eren joins in. "Oh, you don't have to-"

"It's okay, I wanna help."

She smiles again and continues, thinking about the huge thank you meal he was gonna get.

It's dark outside when they finally sit to eat, crisscrossed infront of the TV watching some shitty Christmas movie. "It's way too early for this shit." She rolls her eyes.

"What? Christmas is like three weeks away. These start playing on Thanksgiving."

"Oh, I forgot about Thanksgiving." She says absently, moving her salad away from her pasta. She hates when cold and hot foods mix.

"How do you forget? What'd you do on Thanksgiving?" He laughs, laying on his stomach with his plate beneath him.

"Uh... I don't remember. Probably just watched a movie. Studied, maybe." She shrugs.

"Wait you... you were alone?"

"Yeah, my dad's out of the country."

"Shit." Eren frowns. "Usually people come home for holidays, regardless."

"Not my dad." Her eyes fall to her plate.

"I would've invited you if I'd known. Mikasa and Armin always come over to watch football and eat." 

"That sounds nice." She smiles. "Listen... thanks for introducing me to all your friends and including me in stuff. I'm really thankful for it."

He lays on his side. "You don't have to thank me. I- I mean we all like hanging out with you. A-and I've been meaning to ask if... if you wanted to go to Winter formal... with me."

Her stomach flutters, but in a very different way than it does with Levi. She feels... guilt. 

"I, I wasn't really planning on going. I don't have a dress or-" 

"Mikasa and Sasha are going shopping tomorrow, I'll tell them to pick you up." He sits up, smiling in that innocent, boyish way. He really does remind her of a puppy. So hopeful and oblivious and... loving. It's like he's blind to every fault.

She can't bring herself to turn him down. Why would she anyways? It's not like her teacher can take her to a dance. "That sounds great. Do you wanna come?"

He blushes. "To look at dresses? Do you want me to?"

"I mean, we kind of have to match, right?"

"Yeah, yeah of course." He stutters, images of her in a dressing room flashing through his mind. Images of her dressing in a dressing room. He swallows again.

"Great." She smiles in contentment.


	8. ????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Mentions of child abuse, mutilation and graphic suicide. I'm fucking sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's no song for this chapter. Nothing fits it.

She'll never forget the blood. All the blood, thick and warm and expanding like the ocean tide coming in. She wants to scurry away, keep her feet from touching the wetness of it, but she's bleeding too. By now she can't tell which is which, it's an odd preoccupation to have in this circumstance. But she doesn't want their blood to mix. 

Her mother's cry is garbled and pathetic. Does she regret it? Is she even aware of what she's done? In the brief flashes of sanity she had lately, she always apologized to Aurora, promising it won't happen again. She'll get control of herself, she says. She doesn't need medicine to cloud up her creativity, make her a zombie. She needs perfect understanding. Perfect.

The knife in her hand is loose and limp, it slides to the floor and joins the puddle. If only the nanny had locked it up. If only she had known.

"D-Doux... ange (Sweet angel)." Her mother chokes, tears sliding down her pallid skin. Even now she's beautiful, plush lips sputtering for air. Even now Aurora loves her.

The little girl falls asleep, her left cheek resting in a crimson puddle as her stomach bleeds. 

Shame. They'd just redone the floors.

"Aurora. Aurora." A hand prods her shoulder. She jerks up, eyes flowing freely with tears and the glazed confusion of an interrupted nightmare. Her breath is frantic, sucking in big hollow breaths of panic and the beginnings of a sob.

What in the literal fuck. Shocked, Levi drops to his knees in front of her desk, hands on either side of her face. The class is empty, but the door is unlocked. The threat of being disturbed itches his mind.

"It's just a dream." He comforts her the best he can, wiping wet cheeks. She stares vacantly into his eyes, but her little fingers wrap around his shirt sleeves and grip like a vice. "Breathe, mon petit. With me, in." He sucks an exaggerated breath and she struggles to do the same, a sob interrupting her steady flow. "Out. In. Out." 

The life returns to her eyes, but she stills shakes. Her fingers are hooking into his arms, breath evening out by force. Levi rubs another stream of tears from her face with his thumb, then keeps grazing her soft cheeks. Wet eyelashes clumped together, rose petal lips swollen and glossy with saliva, eyes in daze- his hands struggle against his mind to keep their place on her face. However intimate, this wasn't the time to slip a finger into her mouth. 

"Where'd you go, Rora?" He loosens her fingers from his arms and fishes a handkerchief from his back pocket. Shakily, she wipes the trail of tears from her cheeks and neck. "Can you take me home?" She whispers, sure that if she speaks to loud she'll reopen the floodgates in her eyes.

He just nods and collects her things, sliding them into her backpack and then packing up his own bag. She sits silently, smaller than he's ever seen her. As they walk from school to the train station, he resists the aching urge to hold her hand. Even right beside her, he is much too far. Petra had dreams like that too, ones that would send her into a blind escape mode. Of course, he didn't know what to do with it then but carry her back to bed and hold her close if she'd let him. The inability to comfort Rori was killing him. 

When they sit, she folds her hands in her lap and bites her bottom lip to draw blood, bangs hanging over and curtaining her eyes from view. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. 

She hadn't dreamt of her mother in a long time. But she supposes those kind of things never go away. They just get buried.

Levi looks around first, inspecting every face in their train car before pulling her head to his chest and slipping his fingers through her messy bob. She doesn't have the energy to feel excited by the sudden contact, or even soften at the gesture of comfort. Her body doesn't have room for one more emotion right now, so she just revels in the bubble he's created between her and the outside world, nuzzling her head in silent thanks.

She fears sleeping again, but she closes her sore eyes. He mistakes her steady breathing and motionless body for unconsciousness. His fingers stop massaging her head and slide to her side, making patterns over her forearm and her waist. She's curled up in the seat, small enough to fit both her legs to the side as her weight rests on him.

"Stupid girl." He murmurs, without the slightest displeasure in his voice. 

When the journey ends, he waits for the car to empty. Then he scoops an arm under her leg and pulls her into his lap before standing. She's awake, but too drowsy to do anything but feign sleep. He carries her in the icey air, along with their bags. She feels the muscles of his chest flexing with strain.

As close to him as she feels, there is still a mental boundary. He's her teacher. She's his student. Even if it's not romantic, the depth their relationship is reaching is far beyond appropriate. And still she aches for every bit of him she can get. 

He registers she is awake when she wraps her arms around his neck and holds tight. He's warm against her freezing skin, and she pretends that's the reason she holds him close. "'S cold." She mumbles. "It'll be over in a second." He hadn't thought to wrap her in his jacket. 

He has to place her on her feet to unlock the car, but he opens the door for her and tries to buckle her in. But his hands are shaking. She leads his trembling fingers to the lock and looks up. They're so close now. The temptation is too much. 

He'd be taking advantage if he kissed her right now, so he brushes her cheeks again and walks to the other side. As he drives, she notices the stone features that had been so set in their stoicism just a month before were softer. Noticeably so. He seemed more on edge, less sure of himself, maybe even anxious. Had she done that to him? 

"I promised you something to eat, didn't I?" He asks, referring to the Saturday afternoon he'd dropped her off.

"I'm... I'm not hungry." She breathes.

"You need to eat." He says gently, glancing over sympathetically. 

"I don't wanna go out."

"Why don't I cook?" 

She can't sit through a meal with him right now, but she does want his company. Being alone with her thoughts right now is dangerous. "Okay."

She lets him into her home, a little more antsy now that her grief has subsided. Still, the deafening weight of her emotions render her incapable of wanting anything more than what she'd already received. She wanted touch, but not the way she usually did. Without a mind for hosting, she drops herself into the couch and curls up as small as she can make herself. He finds the kitchen himself, noting the alcohol bottles stacked beside her trash bin. Otherwise, it's very clean. Like, uninhabited clean. There aren't any personal touches, no decorations aside from the architectural stylings. It doesn't look lived in.

He pokes around in her kitchen, silently making lists of ingredients that can be paired. There isn't much he can't make with the way her fridge is stocked. A half hour later, he wakes her up on the couch, setting two plates on the low table in front of it. "Can you tell me what it was about?" He asks after making sure she's actually eating.

"My mom." She answers, surprised she can even get it out.

He's silent for a moment. "Was it a memory or a nightmare?"

"My memory is a nightmare." She closes her mouth around the fork again. Her eyes are puffy and pink, cheeks still mottled. "I haven't dreamed about it in a year."

"Do you think anything triggered it?"

"Christmas." She replied quietly. "It's always around Christmas."

"That's when she died?" He asks blatantly, not bothering to skate around it.

"Yeah." She absently touches her lower stomach. He follows her hand but says nothing. Then she looks up at him, eyes strangely clear. "I'm gonna get drunk after you leave, regardless, so can I just start now?"

He hesitates, teacher-mode kicking in, but decides not to be a hypocrite. He nods. She gets up and brings two glasses instead of one and a quarter bottle of whiskey. Her hands shake when she pours. 

"If I... if I tell you what happened... I don't want pity or sympathy. I just want you to listen. Don't say sorry, don't tell me I didn't deserve it, just... quiet. Okay?" He's surprised by the tension in her voice, an undeveloped rage building beneath it. 

"I won't say a word." He takes the glass and abandons his plate to the table. He's not too hungry now either. 

"She uh... she stayed in a lot of rehabs when I was younger. Heroin, I think. Then they figured out drugs weren't the problem. She started showing early signs of schizophrenia, then it snowballed and she just..." she paused, sniffing before she can continue. He doesn't need to see her eyes to know. "I had nannies while she was in clinics. When she came back, she swore she was cured and my dad believed her. Let her be in charge of her own meds and left us again for work. I guess... I guess she stopped taking them, the pills. Said they made her head foggy and she couldn't feel anything. My dad found out she stopped taking the medicine and threatened to have her locked in some Swiss treatment center for good. She didn't want to go, and she only... only saw one option. So she locked us in a bathroom..." she trails off again, crying for certain now. He wants to hold her. Kiss her. "She didn't want to leave me with my dad. Said he'd break me like he broke her. She didn't want me to be trapped. So she cut me. I don't think she meant to kill me, she just... I don't know. But she wanted to die. I watched her- watched her-" she hiccups and Levi grips her hand. "There was so much blood. It was like a horror movie. At first I tried to hold her wrists closed, but I was bleeding so damn much. The nanny had our cook break the door down. My dad didn't come to her funeral, his assistant arranged it. He didn't see me for months. I think he was ashamed. And angry. So was I, but not at her. I hated him. I still hate him." Her little hand tightens in his. She goes silent and he takes the chance to swallow her words and her whiskey. "She needed help. Understanding. He wouldn't give it to her."

"Come here." He mumbles, pulling her from her spot to his. She buries herself in his chest again, silent tears flowing freely, though she'd calmed down faster than he expected. They lay like that for a while. When he's sure shes asleep, he carries her to one of the bedrooms, the one with the most personal items which he assumes to be hers. He rummages through the vanity for makeup wipes. He used to do it for Petra when she got too drunk. Softly, he wipes it over her smudged mascara and delicate skin. His angel, always. 

After cleaning the dishes, he stands in her kitchen wondering whether he should stay or leave. He resolves not to stay another night with her. They can't make it a habit. 

So he steals her keys from the counter, locks the door and then shoves the keys back through the mail slot, hoping the noise doesn't wake her. 

He stands on her stoop a moment, breathing in winter air and letting out the tension she incites in his muscles.

Always, his angel.


	9. ?????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day because I'm feeling real fuckin' motivated. It's time for some sick dance moves, drunk Yeager style.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favorite dance jams to accompany you on this sexually charged and awkward journey:  
> Sports "Panama" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I3Ec8y1HiYk  
> Chromatics "Cherry" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CjQ2jGUNSck  
> Blood Orange "Champagne Coast"  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eBYj0hfzPfI

"Are you going to Winter formal?" Mr. Smith sits behind his mahogany desk, watching as she organizes files alphabetically. 

"Yeah, I bought my dress this weekend." She feels oddly refreshed, a weight lifted off her shoulders from the emotional outpouring last night. It shows in her fresh, peachy skin and bright eyes. 

Erwin smiles genuinely. "I'm glad you're getting involved in student life. You look well rested again."

"Caught up on my sleep." Her dimples are uneven with a crooked smile. 

God, she makes him feel like a kid again. He looks forward to seeing her everyday, talking to her makes him giddy and, if he's honest, a little bit nervous. She's charming, witty, if not a little dry. And her eyes... they were captivating. 

"I'm happy to hear it." He can never seem to get any work done around her. She must think his job is useless. "Do you, uh, have a date? For the dance, I mean."

She pauses but answers anyways. "Yeah, Eren Yeager."

His resolve melts a little, he feels the unfamiliar sting of jealousy. Not that he'd ever act on his little crush, regardless of the fact she'll be an adult in a few months. "Ah, I know the name. Quarterback, huh?" There's a teasing tone in his words.

"I always forget he plays sports." She says almost absently. 

"Are you two... going steady, then?"

Going steady? How fucking old is this dude. She can't help but laugh. "Uh, no, no, we're just good friends."

He perks up, visibly. "Any particular reason why not?" He scolds himself for the lack of control over his curiosity. 

Christ is he nosy. "I'm just... not into him that way. He's a great kid, but-" she trails off for a moment, not sure where the boundary between friendly conversation and oversharing is. "I guess I prefer someone with more maturity. High school boys in general don't really interest me. Jesus, that sounds precocious."

He sputters. "No, I completely understand. Some people are more advanced than their age range." 

"Yeah. Guess I'll just wait it out." She sighs longingly, mind now fixated on recreating Levi's baritone voice. He'd probably call her an idiot or a tease for functionally admitting to only liking older men. Or make fun of her daddy issues. She wonders if he was one of those guys that liked that title. But that's a thought for another time.

Erwin glances up at her, quirking a brow at her vacant stare through the window of his office. "Are you alright?" 

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm a space cadet sometimes." She jokes cutely, resuming her filing.

How was she gonna focus in his class? Could she separate his role in the classroom from the comforting friend she'd cried all over the night before? Her mind started to escape her again when the bell rang. 

"I'll finish these tomorrow." She neatly stacks what is left and smiles. "Later."

"Have a good afternoon." He calls after her, glad she hadn't caught him staring.

Class with Levi is miserable as usual, especially when she accidentally addresses him by his first name, much to the notice of the class. They exchange a look, him glaring in silent reprimand and her biting her lip with an apologetic furrow of her brow. 

When he finishes his lesson and gives them time to start on their homework, they meet gazes again. She bites back a smile and he makes a soft "Tch" noise. His eyes were slurred vortexes, shifting with the attentive laziness of a skilled predator. He could tear her apart if he wanted to. And right then, it's all he could think of. Recently he'd been behaving like one of his fucking students, accidentally popping semi hard-ons every time his mind wandered to a place it shouldn't. How her little throat would look with his hand wrapped around it, or the face she'd make as he entered her, whether she'd close her eyes and clam up in embarrassment or reveal some slutty, wanton alter ego. Shit, shit, he needed to calm the fuck down. He thinks of Hange. Hange naked. Hange naked with a huge strap on and some ball gags. His dick deflates to it's resting state just as the bell rings. 

"Hey, you gonna come with us to the movie?" Eren approaches her desk, grin as stupid and dislikable as ever. Levi grimaces. Rori looks from him to Levi. Eren notices.

"Hey, Mr. Ackerman." The name sounds foreign and distant now that they were both used to her saying his first name. "Mind if I skip tutoring today?"

"Yeah, whatever, assface. Go have fun." He waves her off, feigning disinterest. 

"Thanks." She smiled genuinely. 

"Lemme carry that." Eren grabs her bag from her and slips it over his free shoulder. Fucking prick. Levi watches them leave with a cold tightness in his chest. 

Mikasa waits for them in the hallway. She was always so silent, Rori forgot she had last period with them. "What's up with you and Ackerman?" She asks as they walk.

Rori internally panics. "What do you mean?"

"I saw you staring at each other. Couldn't tell if it was sexual tension or murderous rage"

"Definitely rage. He hates me." She lies through her teeth. "He assigned me two hundred pages over the weekend and an essay due Wednesday."

"Ugh. He's such a bitch." Mikasa turns her nose up, arms crossed under her chest. Jean slides into Eren's car with them, throwing an arm around the dark-haired girl. "Hey, babe." "What's with the long face, Kierstein." Mikasa taunts cruelly and he retracts his arm. "You all should be nicer to me, I got you into a club."

"We paid twenty bucks for Eren to get punched in the face, Rori to get lost, Reiner to throw up on Ymir's shoes and you to show your dick and get us all kicked out." 

"Okay, but the aesthetic was great." 

...........................

"What are you doing this weekend?" Rori asks politely as she and Levi drive home the next day. 

"Gotta chaperone that stupid fucking dance. Caterpillar eyebrows ropes me into it every year." He scowls and flips a middle finger as he swerves around a car going ten under the speed limit.

She rubs her cold, gloved fingers together. "It doesn't sound so bad. Plus you'll see my bomb ass dress."

"You're going?" His surprise is audible. 

"Yeah, I haven't been to a school dance before. Figured I should probably see what the hype is for."

"It's sweaty, the music sucks, and there's no alcohol."

"I have a solution for at least one of those problems."

"If you show up drunk, I'm gonna rat you out to Smith."

"No you won't." She says knowingly. He's trying to be a responsible adult, but the role is too forced. 

"Yeah, probably not. Who's driving you home?" He wouldn't mind drinking with her after the stupid thing is over. Especially if she wears something like her clubbing outfit. 

"Eren, probably."

Levi's jaw sets. "He's your date?"

"Yeah." She tries to sound nonchalant, but she enjoys his reaction. As awful as it is, making him jealous is the only sure response she can get from him. It's strangely validating. "Asked me on Saturday."

"You were with me Saturday."

"He had my purse from the concert, so he came over." She turns to him. "Are you... jealous?"

He scoffs, as if it's the most ridiculous thing she could say. "Watch yourself, kid."

She keeps going. "I like him, he's really nice."

"He just wants to get in your pants. All guys that age do." He half-scolds. He knows it's the wrong thing to say, she always gets mad when he talks badly about Yeager. 

"Oh, and what do you want, Levi? Two years of courtship and a reasonable dowry?" She rolls her eyes so hard they could pop out of her skull. "You know, girls want exactly what boys do, we're just taught it's slutty and degrading. We have to regard our sexuality as some golden chalice, but if we're too careful we get called 'frigid'. And you know what?" She meets his eyes. She may regret the next thing that tumbles from her mouth, but, "Sometimes I just wanna fuck." 

There it goes. He prays that the fold in his pants disguises his twitching dick, his face turning the slightest shade of pink. "So, what you're saying is that to prove you're sexually liberated, you're gonna use Eren for sex?"

"No, I'm saying that if I did, it wouldn't be any of your fucking business." She snaps, crossing her arms over her chest like a sour child. 

He would laugh if he wasn't putting all his attention into not crashing the car and making his crotch appear as flat as possible. "You're a brat, you know that? I'm just trying to impart a little fucking wisdom."

"Thanks." She says sarcastically. "But I think I've got a pretty good handle on things."

He parks and doesn't turn off the car this time, watching her fumble for her bag. "I'm sorry, Aurora, I didn't mean to insinuate that you're a delicate fucking flower." His apology is hardly genuine, a sarcastic edge to every word. 

Usually she hated her full name, but it honestly doesn't bother her when he says it. "Whatever, I wouldn't expect your old ass to understand."

"I'm not old, you're just infantile." 

"Then you're a pedophile." She tosses back, he winces at the word but she slams the door shut.  
....................

Annie does her makeup for the big night. The concept is more natural than the weekend before, a blushing candlelit glow thanks to some ridiculously priced highlighter Annie had convinced her to buy.

"You need these again." Mikasa pulls Rori's bra cups without warning and shoves two chicken cutlets under her breasts. Aurora blushes at the girls boldness. "Thanks, I'm always glad to join the titty club."

"We get a lot of free shit." Mikasa shrugs, her monotonous expression not really delivering the intentioned sarcasm.

"Can someone zip me up?" Sasha whines, hair piled into a beehive of artificial curls. Ymir obliges and yells at her to suck in and stop wiggling.

"What dress did you end up buying, again?" Mikasa asks Rori, who is still in a pajama top and her underwear. 

"A shitty one that Eren picked." 

"Oo, what's the deal between you?" Historia teases. 

"Just guys being dudes, man." She jokes. 

"You know he's, like, in love with you." Annie says, mouth muffled by the eyeliner cap between her lips as she tries to draw the perfect wing. Rori tries not to move. "Uh, I guess. We're just friends."

"But do you like him?"

"Yeah, but not... not the way he likes me. I really hope he doesn't change after he figures that out."

"You better tell him. If you break his heart being a passive aggressive asshole, I'll kill you." Mikasa warns, but it's oddly good advice. 

"I'll see if there's an opportunity to talk tonight." She sighs.

"Not to like, force my gay on you but are you even attracted to dudes?" Ymir asks from where she buttons her suit jacket. 

"Sometimes." She sighs. "Never ones I can have though." 

"What's the supposed to mean?" 

"She likes old dudes." Annie jests and Rori grimaces and corrects, "No, I like certain traits that come with age." 

"Oh my god, that's so kinky. Do you run one of those daddy-choke-me pastel blogs on tumblr?" Ymir cackles.

"Yeah, it's called eat-my-ass-Ymir." She snaps sarcastically. 

"I was expecting wrinkled-scrotum-lover."

"Fuck you, freckles."

........................

"This sucks scrotum." Levi complains. In all honesty, he would've made up some elaborate excuse about having the shits if he hadn't found out Rori was coming. He wanted to keep an eye on how that Yeager handles her.

Erwin winces. "Levi, language."

"What, anatomically correct terminology is a curse now?"

"The point is that derogatory-"

"VP!" Hange shouts, spinning around in their dress before latching onto Erwin's arm. "Dance with me!" 

The surprisingly strong hold gives him no choice but to join them, looking over his shoulder in a last ditch effort for help. No way was Levi getting involved in that.

He scans the crowd for the upteenth time. Then he finds her, Eren's arm thrown lazily over her shoulder as the walk through the crowd. Their dumb ass friends dance around them, probably already shitfaced. 

He leans his back to the wall and watches the proceedings with an uninterested but pointed glare. 

Rori artfully goes to get punch as people pair up for a slow dance, much to the obvious dejection of Eren.

Levi, guarding the punch bowl from potential alcoholic sabotage, straightens up. "You look nice, brat."

She smiles appreciatively but obviously isn't having a great time. "Thanks. Is this spiked?" She points to the bowl.

"Not yet." He sighs. "I keep going to the bathroom hoping someone will sneak a little gin in there." 

Her nose crinkles in the cutest way when she laughs. "You need something to calm your nerves, old man?"

"Why, what've you got?" He cracks a smirk and gets a little closer. 

"Top shelf bourbon. You up for some alcohol and self loathing?" She smile proudly, knocking her knuckles into the flask that's attached to her thigh under a few layers of underskirts. She wished the dress didn't look so juvenile on her, but at least it hid her disco juice.

He licks his lips, wondering if he can catch the taste from her mouth. "Meet me outside in thirty minutes. By the dumpsters. Shake off your dumb boyfriend, alright?" 

"What's in it for me?"

"My exhilarating company." He rolls his eyes. From his periphery he notices Eren moving through the crowd towards them. Fucking cock block.

"Hey, Mr. Ackerman." Eren forces himself to smile, looking between his friend and the older man.

"You look like a tool, Yeager." Levi fires immediately. Rori internally groans. "Take that stupid bow tie off and unbutton the top. It's not the fifth fucking concerto, it's a school dance." 

Eren isn't sure if it's poorly delivered advice or a demand, so he does what he's told with fumbling fingers. "Are you done, being a jerk?" Rori looks at Levi with a very bored expression. Eren's surprised by her casual blatantness, assuming it must be the alcohol. "She means-" he tries to save her from a quick downfall when Levi cuts him off. "I'm never done. Go back to your hormonal grinding, idiots."

"Captain." She does a stupid salute that makes him snort and pulls Eren along with her as she disappears back into the mass of sweaty bodies.

"What was that?" Eren questions awkwardly, having to shout directly into her ear to be heard. 

"What do you mean?"

"He never yells at you for anything. You guys act like friends."

"It's mutual respect, he knows not to fuck with me." She grins proudly, spinning around on his hand.

Thirty minutes pass and she excuses herself from the group under a guise of needing to fix her makeup. A flutter of excitement fills her chest at the prospect of meeting Levi secretly to share a drink. 

He leans on the wall just behind the dumpster shed, doing the best to ignore the smell. The smoke of his cigarette does an acceptable job neutralizing the putrid scent.

"Since when do you smoke?" She scoffs.

"Since mind your fucking business." His mouth pinches it between lips, muffling his voice. She hates how fucking sexy it looks. "You never smell like it."

"What, do you sniff me often?" He isn't much taller but he manages to look down on her. She appears at once a glamorous woman and a child playing dress up. "I quit last year. Took it up again." 

"Mm." She breathes out, watching the smoke curl from his nose and mouth in fascination. "Can I try?" 

He hesitates. "Better not tell anyone I got you hooked on this shit."

She drops her head to the side. "Like I could tell anybody anything about us."

As nervous as it makes him, he likes the sound of 'us'. He holds the cigarette out to her, streams of smoke furling out from the tip. She wraps her mouth around it instead of using her hands. The tips of his fingers jump away from her lips and he clears his throat. She takes a deep puff and immediately starts hacking. "Shit." She says brokenly between coughs.

He laughs, taking the cigarette from her fingers. The sound is so rare and... beautiful that it stops her. "You've never done that before."

"What?"

"Laughed."

"Sure I have." He says absently, trying not the think about her lipstick stain now touching his mouth. 

"No, you definitely haven't. You do that half assed chuckle shit usually." 

He quirks an eyebrow and echoes her. "Half assed chuckle shit?"

"Yeah. I like your real laugh." 

"Perfection is my cross to bear." He jokes at the compliment. "Didn't you promise me some booze?"

She rolls up her skirt and he tries not to look at the soft skin of her thigh. The thigh he is most definitely looking directly at. 

"Bottoms up." She hands it over. He clicks back the cap and tips it up, effortlessly chugging.

"Save some for me, asshole."

"Shut up, I'm the adult here." He finally hands it over and she slides to the ground, not much caring if he dress suffers.

He grunts in disgust but joins her nevertheless. "How's your date going with McFuckable?"

"I'm so fucking bored." She groans, mouth burning from the high proof. "Does that make me a terrible person? He's so nice and I just... can't make myself like him."

He takes his last deep inhale and stubs the cigarette on the ground. "Some people just don't have chemistry."

"He's done so much for me. And he's never tried anything, either."

"What, he deserves your undying love and affection for being a good person, Miss Feminist?" 

Shit, he was right. But she still couldn't shake the guilt. "I'm a monster." 

He chortles. "Oh please, you're a seventeen year old kid, cut the angst. You're not a monster."

"Don't say that, I can handle that kind of responsibility." She feigns offense, which makes him laugh again. 

"The point is, you shouldn't be guilting yourself because he's oblivious to the fact you're way out of league." 

"What's that mean, I'm perfect? Fuck you." She jokes.

He smirks. "Maybe one day you'll find someone to fix all your terrible, terrible habits."

"Romance at its finest." 

....................

The night ends with her stumbling into Annie's room and sneaking Armin in through the window. They smoke a bowl inconspicuously after stuffing the underside of her door with t-shirts and drier sheets, blowing smoke out the window. The blondes throw pillows over her face when she coughs incessantly, still unable to hold her shit. 

Eventually, they start to suck tongues and she sneaks back out after quietly warning them of risks associated with unprotected teenage sex.

It's a lot colder than she remembers as she walks up the street. She pulls her phone out and dials a number she had only texted a handful of times. 

"What the fuck do you want?" A gruff voice asks. God, the groggy tone sets a fire in her.

"I'm walking home alone, I wanted someone to talk to."

"What? Where are you, let me pick you up."

She laughs at the sudden urgency. "I'm just at Annie's, it's like ten minutes from my place."

"Dumbass, it's cold."

"I'm a big girl. You wanna FaceTime?"

"No, I look like shit." He grumbles, something brushing against his end of the speaker.

"What, did you take your makeup off already?" She teases.

"Fuck off, you're the one bootycalling me at 3am."

"You're the one answering." She looks around at the light snow falling. 

He sighs. "Saw you left early."

"We got some food and I went to Eren's. Then Annie picked me up because he was too drunk to drive."

"Mm." He answers. There's a silence. He really doesn't like hearing about Eren, even after her assurance that she doesn't feel anything for him. The sneaking suspicion of her fucking him for fun makes his stomach twist in a fucking sailor's knot. "I wanna go back to sleep, are you almost home?"

"Yeah, whatever. Sleep tight, I-" she starts and stops herself. What the fuck? Had she almost said I love you?

He doesn't catch it. "Later, chicken tits." 

She hangs up, biting the inside of her cheeks. She was crossfaded, that's why her tongue was trying to get her in trouble. She was just used to ending calls with 'I love you'. Kind of.


	10. ??????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I give you filthy folk your daily bread (smut) at 2:47am. Enjoy the feast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take a listen to these tracks and tell me you don't wanna eat some booty:  
> Alabama Shakes "Gimme All Your Love" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-oib0a2_itA  
> AWOLNATION "I'm on Fire"  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QPPLAHn0Hz8

There is a burning ache in her core somewhere near 3am. He was in her dream, touching her in soft places. Deep places. Half between waking and sleeping, she drapes a leg languidly over the side of the bed and spreads herself with two fingers. She teases first, imagining he probably wouldn't give it to her right away. He would play and touch and lick until she begged. And fuck, she was willing to beg. Typically she needed porn and a vibrator to get off, a nightly activity due to her hormone driven libido, but the thought of him... even just seeing her this vulnerable spreads a warm wetness down her thighs. Frustrated with the lessened friction her excess juices had created she whimpers, fingers desperate and quick over her clit. She wants his tongue, his fingers, his cock; everything and anything he can give her. Even more so because she can't have him. A scenario is developed in her head, in which he bends her over his desk and stretches her tiny cunt, skirt flipped up and panties to the side. Staying clothed makes the urgent fuck all the more taboo. He can't restrain himself long enough to undress. Disproportionately long and skilled fingers fuck into her from behind. Two- no, three- pumping with unimaginable speed. His free hand restrains her arms, not that she'd fight. They both just like the extra assurance of control. She wants to be used. The fantasy is cut short at the unexpected contractions of her pussy, a strangled sigh of pleasure releasing at the same time. 

Her arched back collapses back into the sheets. She's definitely awake now.  
.....……………

The day passes in a haze. Every class, she finds herself clenching her legs together and yearning for friction, mind playing through fantasy after fantasy. Her cheeks are permanently prickled with a flush, lips swollen and red from incessant chewing and eyes hooded sleepily. He, inadvertently of course, won't let her rest. 

Erwin notices the change as she sits on the floor beside his desk, filling his file cabinets with manila folders.

"Aurora? You look feverish." He kneels, placing the back of his hand to her forehead. She's warm, but not worryingly so. "How do you feel?"

"Fine." She smiles, almost dreamily. 

He swallows a knot in his throat. If he wasn't mistaken, she seems intoxicated. And extremely coquettish.

"I need to use the restroom." She stands up and flattens the bottom of her dress, one far too short to wear in winter. Erwin remains knelt, looking up at her. The hem of her skirt is eye level. He can't do anything but nod as she slips from his office, an unmistakable tilt in her hips as she saunters off.

In the bathroom, she splashes her cheeks with water and considers the consequences of trying to get herself off in the stall before next hour. It's a thought that wouldn't have even occurred a few months ago, but the deep seated itch for touch was driving her insane. She couldn't think straight.

After deciding the risks are too great to justify, she walks through empty halls, ditching Erwin in hopes of cooling herseld down. Five minutes before the bell she sneaks back over to grab her things from the front desk. She may get a stern talking to the next day, but her impression of Smith was a huge, awkward pushover.

Seeing Levi makes everything worse. The minutes are far too long between class and 'tutoring'. Not that she'll be able to act on any of her nagging thoughts, but a lack of student peers would make this a lot easier to deal with. 

Levi looks up at her, shocked by the blatant stare he is met with. Her expression is... different. Glowing. Slowly, her gaze falls back to her book as if the meeting of eyes was deliberate. Usually she would looked away in embarrassment. This... this was new.

When the bell rings, she swears she could moan her appreciation. 

"You're staying today?" He asks.

"There's nowhere else I wanna be." She shrugs. He receives it as sarcasm, but she means every word.

He glances to her again. Her eyes scan the paper but he knows she's not really reading. Her face gets a little tense when she's trying to comprehend something, eyes narrowing and lips pressing together. At the moment, her features are totally relaxed. He notices a darker pink on her cheeks and lips, a drowsiness in her eyes. It looks very... romantic. The kind of look a woman gets after she's been thoroughly fucked.

Jealousy suddenly overtakes admiration of her beauty as he decides she must've held true to her words. She had to have fucked Eren this weekend. The night she called him, maybe after too.

"So." He says abruptly, closing a book with emphasis. "How was your weekend?"

"Fine." She doesn't look up, smiling in contentment. 

"How was Eren's weekend?" He adds, his tongue serrated with venom.

She looks up. "I don't know, why?"

"He had a bigger head than usual today. Figured you must've spent the weekend together." He shrugs, switching back to a more controlled and disinterested demeanor.

She narrows her eyes. If he was implying what she thought he was, there was about to be a big fucking problem. "And why would you say that?"

"Well, you were with him Saturday night weren't you?"

"And?"

"And nothing. I just figured you finally fucked. Had to happen sometime." He leans back in his chair and crosses his legs, as if the subject has no meaning to him. The accusation is made all the more insulting by his sudden nonchalance. 

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She says quietly, neck reddening in anger as she struggles to control a temper that tends to boil over. "You're asking me if I fucked Eren Yeager? The Eren Yeager we just talked about me being completely and utterly uninvolved with?"

"You said you didn't like him, doesn't mean you didn't screw him." He is deadpan, cold and calculating. The guilt is starting to creep in, but his stubbornness fights it back.

"Fuck you." She spits, and shoots out of her chair. Her hand swipes across her desk, knocking his assigned reading to the floor, and then grabbing her bag in a fell swoop.

She stomps from the classroom   
and he cooly gathers his belongings, as well as her book, and walks after. Synapses fire in his brain as he works through a few hypothetical apologies. He'd gone too far and he knew it.

Thunder booms above her as she waits for the 5 o'clock train but no rain falls. The air is grey and damp. The tip of her nose is freezing.

Levi sits on the bench behind her, not wanting to argue on the train. Patiently he waits, watching her from his separate seat as she glares at her phone. She looks at him just once, rage burning behind those mismatched eyes.

When the ride comes to a stop, she stays seated. She's waiting for him to leave. So he does, hand in pocket, with a slow gait. It starts to drizzle, then rain, then fucking drench him by the time he reaches his car. He looks over his shoulder, squinting to see through the downpour. 

She's pitifully small in her big overcoat, shrunk up to avoid rain she hadn't prepared for. He can still sense the bitterness in her posture and small, angry steps. His shoulder soften. "Get the fuck in." He shouts over the storm.

She keeps walking. He gets in and starts the car, wiping a wet hand over his face and then pulling out. He rolls the window down, driving slowly to match her speed. "Aurora. Please. Get in."

She walks. 

"You're gonna get sick, Rori. I'm sorry." 

The biting cold is painful on the bare skin of her face. She thinks she's crying, but who can tell in this weather? 

Every bone in her body is angry and hurt and resistant, but... his car is warm and dry. Against her better judgement, or worse depending on your perspective, she climbs in and slams the door after her.

They don't speak. He only drives for a few minutes before pulling in beside a curb and turning off the engine. The soft beating of rain and hail against the car feed the silence.

"I'm sorry." He speaks first, gentle and quiet as he'd ever been.

She sniffs, arms folded around her stomach protectively. 

He clenches and unclenches his hand. Experimentally, he slips it under her chin. She freezes, then closes her eyes and leans into the cold touch. He could cry from relief. She doesn't hate him.

"I shouldn't have said what I did. I was wrong. I was... jealous." He swallows, the word hardly making it out of his mouth. Her eyes blink open at him. "Why?"

His jaw tightens. The grey in his eyes is liquid and dark. Hypnotizing. "Because I don't want Eren to touch you. I don't want anyone to touch you."

Her breath hitches in her throat and she shudders for an entirely different reason than the cold. One final question. "Why?"

He looks away from her, and in that moment she falls in love.

"Because... I want you. All of you." 

The world shifts. They can both feel it. Neither is sure who reacts first because they meet in a cataclysm of movement and teeth. There isn't anything sweet or tender about it, just desperation and complete honesty after a month of built up pressure. 

He bites her bottom lip and pulls away to leave open mouthed kisses over the wet skin of her neck. Tears bead at the corners of her eyes at the sweet release of emotion, clinging to his jacket like a lifeline. "Levi." She whimpers, pulling his face back to hers. 

In a rabid attempt to get closer, she crawls over the middle console and into his lap. His hands want to memorize every piece of her, but he stops himself at the small of her back. His thumbs rub circles into her hipbones, the firm grip holding them in place as she tries to roll them into his. She pulls her mouth away with a sloppy suction noise. He couldn't imagine a more beautiful sight. 

"I want to. Please." She begs, pelvis pressing forward desperately. 

He's hard enough that the restraint of his pants cause actual pain, but his conscience wins the upper hand. "We can't." He whispers, then nips her collarbone because it just looks so fucking delicious.

Aurora closes her eyes again and tightens her fingers on his shirt. "Why?"

"You know why."

She is so unbelievably frustrated that a tear falls. "I'll be eighteen in March."

"And things will be different in March." He assures her. "But now..."

She drops her head to his shoulder, breathing in the warm scent of his cologne. "I want more."

He can't help but chuckles. A hand slides down her thigh to her bent knee. "I want it more than anything. Believe me."

She wants to plead some more. Beg, cry, reason with him. But she trusts that he knows best, even if it means she has to wait to get his fingers inside her. "I thought about you last night. And all day. In class." Her voice is lower, seductive. She's trying to tempt him. And it's working. 

He swallows audibly, fingers crawling back up her thighs. The skin is so velvety he wouldn't believe they were real if he didn't feel a faint pulse. "Don't you want to know what I think about?"  
Her breath is hot in his ear. 

Hesitantly, he nods. She ghosts her lips over his throat, looking up to meet his eyes as she moves back to his ear. "I had a dream last night. You were inside me, your fingers..." she reaches down to slide her hands over his and place them on her chest. "Then your mouth." She kisses him and he takes a moment to respond. When he melts into it, she used the distraction to grind down. Both of them gasp at the sudden friction. 

His arms wrap around the arch of her back, her using the steering wheel to lean on. Involuntarily, his hips buck against the quick snap of hers and they fall into a frantic rhythm. With as wet as her panties are, it barely passes for dry humping.

She moans, the noise so sweet and genuine that he spurts cum down the left leg of his pants with a grunt. Aurora's breath becomes audible, little whimpers falling in with every exhale as she rides out the vibrations of her orgasm.

He presses his forehead to hers. "You little shit." It's breathless and quiet and the most beautiful thing she's ever heard him say.


	11. ???????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I totally haven't edited this, sorry. You deserve the finest of erotic fiction, but I'm a fucking trash heap so... Have some fingering kiddos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No song because I'm literally leaving the house as we speak, I want to hammer this out before I leave. Love you, please comment so I can talk to you it makes me so happy.

The week passes in chaste kisses and sweaty palms. With final exams, he tries not to distract her. As if his choices had anything to do with it, she'd think about him regardless. It's the last day before holiday break and something is off about Aurora.

On the train ride, he leaves his jacket over his forearm to disguise their interlocked fingers. She looks dazedly to the floor. The subtlest light had gone from her eyes in the past few days, like a one way mirror had been set between them. He could see her, but she could only see herself. There was a barrier.

After a car ride consisting up him rubbing his hand over her lap and receiving one word answers to his inquiries about how her exams went, he veers off the path from her home and turns around.

She doesn't notice the change for a moment, eyes unfocused. "Where are we going?" She finally asks, more curious than concerned.

"Dinner." 

"Where?"

"Brooklyn. Hanging around uptown is risky."

"Oh." She lays her head back.

Her lack of response sets his nerves on edge. Was it him? Was the reality of what they'd done a few days ago getting to her? Did she regret it?

He searched for answers beneath her skirt, his fingers uncertain and experimental. She hadn't noticed his hand sliding up her inner thigh until he found what he was looking for. A sharp breath escapes her and her eyes dilated visibly. "Levi..." she whispers, biting her lip to suppress the noise threatening to escape.

He looks quickly between her in and the road. "Let me hear you." It's demanding, a tone she was only used to hearing in the classroom.

He acted as if he were only driving, seemingly independent of the ministrations of his fingers over her clothed clit.

"Levi" she whines again, lifting her hips forward for more friction, more contact. When he doesn't give, she grips his wrist in both hands and pulls it in harder. "Please." Her breath is audible. 

He finally graces her with a gaze. At the sight of being so undone, he pulls over and leans to kiss her. His fingers, apprehensive and trembling just slightly, slip beneath the moist fabric of her underwear. She moans into his mouth, her arms around his neck as if to trap him from pulling away. 

Fuck, she's dripping wet, coating his finger as he slips one in experimentally. Aurora gasps, pulling from his lips to watch in fascination. As many times as she'd thought about it, nothing was like the real thing. If he was hard before, he was borderline exploding now as she seemed to get noisier watching the finger disappear. Her insides were so fucking tight, he wasn't sure he could squeeze another one in. It was like a suction cup, lewd noises layering with her quick breaths. The pad of his thumb rubbed her clit in deep circles, his middle finger matching the rhythm as it picked up a steady speed.

Her voice, sweet and needy, was all the encouragement he needed. His tongue attacked her neck. He sucked a deep purple into the skin of her throat, then grazed his teeth up to her jaw. As gentle as he felt he needed to be with her, an animalistic urge to bite and scratch and rut was rivaling with his better judgement.

"Kiss me." She whines, meeting his mouth. Her thighs close suddenly around his hand, making it impossible to do anything but tease her sensitive bundle of nerves as she came. Her breath against his lips is struggled, gasping even. "Fuck." Her voice is hardly a whisper. He raises his finger to his mouth and licks it clean, eyes hooded. A new fire grows in her stomach. She slips a hand to his lap, reaching for his belt. His hand stops it in its tracks, gripping firmly on her wrist.

"Let me." She half-whines, eyebrows pushed together in confusion.

"You don't have to." He assures her. Levi starts the car with his free hand.

"I want to. Don't you want it?"

"Of course I do. Just not now." He shifts uncomfortably and lets her hand fall to her side. Her mind struggles to think of a reason why he wouldn't let her touch him. The only ones that seem viable are: 

a. He's embarrassed, which seems unlikely. 

B. He's got some weird sense of morality and touching him is out of bounds because he doesn't want to sully her.

"Are you a virgin?" He asks bluntly as they drive, confirming her hypothesis.

"Virginity is a social construct." She rolls her eyes, only to be met with a sharp look. "But no, I've never done this."

"Not even the touching?"

"No." Now of all times she decides to get flustered. "I mean, I've done it to myself plenty."

That's a fact he'll file away for another time. "We should talk about it before going any further than we have."

"Talk about what?"

"What you're comfortable with, what I am. Safety. Preparation."

"It's not a fucking procedure." She laughs, finally seeming like herself again. He'd been worried.

"You're not the one finger blasting a minor, alright?" He snaps. "I don't wanna make any mistakes."

She sighs and leans down, slipping off her underwear and tossing it to the floor. "What are you doing?" "They're wet, I don't want to wear them." 

He breathes in deeply through his nose and then out, calming himself. She was like some creepy hentai schoolgirl fantasy on legs. "Tch."

"I don't wanna got out now." She sighs. "Can we go to your place?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Because he doesn't trust himself with her anywhere near a bed. "Because I said so."

She pouted. "You let me sleep there before."

"Yeah, before I started fucking you."

"Except we haven't fucked."

"Finger fucking counts."

"If that's equal to fucking, why can't we just-"

"When you're eighteen." He interrupts, looking pointedly at her as he drives back the way they'd come and turns onto her street.

She slumps in the seat, dejected. "That's so far away."

"Exactly, that's why we have to wait."

"What difference does it make?"

"Five years in jail."

"The age of consent in New York is seventeen."

"Fine, how about I'd like to keep my job?" He groans and pulls into the space in front of her house.

"You know I wouldn't tell." 

"I know." He tenderly grazed her cheek and presses his lips to her forehead. "While I appreciate your faith in my judgement, you should know that I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing."

"I know." She pecks his chin and then his mouth. "This is fucking stupid, and you're not gonna last three months."

He knows. "There's something seductive about the notion of possibility." He quips.

She smiles and grabs her bag. He holds her arm in place. "Wait. You were kind of out of it earlier. In class. Was something wrong?"

She blinks a few times and then settles back into her seat. "Christmas is in a few days."

Oh, shit. He'd forgotten about the association she has with the holiday. It was hard not to show any outwardly pitying signs. "If you need me... just call okay? I hate this fucking holiday too."

"Why?"

"It's my birthday." He grimaces, not sure why he admits it. 

"What? Why didn't you tell me? You're turning 34, right? Are you-"

He presses his hand over her mouth. She licks the inside of his palm. He tries not to find pleasure in it, feigning disgust. "Just get out, kid. I'm tired."

"You just wanna jack off." She teases and opens the door.

"Well, you're not wrong."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's probably gonna be two chapters today, one tomorrow and potentially nothing on the 18th because I'm driving my younger brother to camp. Feel free to comment with things you wanna see, especially if it pertains to Rori and Levi's relationship. It's always really hard for me to depict relationships after the initial 'chase'. Tell me what you're curious about, what has the potential for development, etc. Also... TELL ME WHAT KINKY SHIT Y'ALL ARE INTO SO I CAN WORK IT IN! THE COMMENTS ARE A FUCKING SUGGESTION BOX, POUR YOUR NASTIEST SECRETS IN THAT BITCH AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO REALIZE YOUR DREAMS. Love you.


	12. ????????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's 2:09am, this took a little longer than expected but... I think you'll appreciate the contents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LEAVE ME SUGGESTIONS OF SHIT YOU'D LIKE TO READ! (Nearly) EVERYTHING IS FAIR GAME!! I'm disgusting so I feel compelled to force my daddy kink on all y'all but Ima let it slide unless you ask for it.

The night before Christmas Eve, she joined Sasha's ugly sweater party, smoked some shitty weed, drunk cried in the bathroom for a half hour, and woke up in a bed with Reiner and Bertolt. Upon the slow realization, she tried to work out how she managed to fit so creatively, folded like at cat above their heads and pressed between the wall and their pillows. Bert's legs hung off the bed and Reiner's wide shoulders made adjusting herself impossible. The sky was still a deep blue so she fell back asleep, waking for a second time just thirty minutes later to a soft noise akin to a hushing sound. And then she heard it. The unmistakable smack of wet lips.

She froze, then opened her eyes in the dim haze of the early morning. They were kissing. She repressed her laughter, then thought of something witty to say to announce herself, then resolved to watch creepily until they figured out she was awake.

After all of Reiner's flirting, she'd figured he had some toxic masculinity that was inherently homophobic. Bert had never spoken to her directly, sweating and averting his gaze instead, so she figured he was too anxious around girls to do anything else. This was a complete shock. The fluidity and flexibility of sexuality was amazing, fascinating even. 

"Hate to interrupt the festivities, but I totally have to pee." She finally spoke. Both boys jumped and fumbled to move apart on the small mattress. Reiner muttered a curse. "We're really drunk, dude." 

Oh my god. He was really pulling a 'I make out with my bros, but no homo' right now. Jesus Christ, her initial opinion was right, he was definitely a meathead repressing his sexuality by overcompensating. 

She hated to lecture this early in the morning but, "You know no one here cares if you like boys, right? Or maybe you don't like boys, you just like each other. Sometimes we're attracted to people more for their personalities than their sex or gender. Like, you could be into girls or boys, girls and boys, people that don't really fit into either... sometimes it changes with time, and sometimes you think you're something and then you find a person that changes how you identify yourself. There's like infinite possibilities and the only limits are what you put on yourself. The point is, if you guys need to get drunk as an excuse to experiment with your identity because it saves you from rejection and responsibility or something, whatever. But I'm telling you right now there is absolutely nothing wrong with it."

They look at her, open mouthed. Reiner brushes a hand over his own head. "Uh... thanks but I don't really know... you know... how I feel..."

"You don't have to. I thought I was asexual for a really long time until recently. You have all the time in the world to figure it out, or you can choose not to label yourself at all. You don't have to identify yourself to make it easier for people to understand you. Just... be honest with what you want." She sits up, patting both their legs. 

"Can you... just keep it quiet, for now?" Reiner speaks to her but looks at Bert, who nods in agreement.

"Of course. It isn't anyone's business but yours." She crawls out of bed and stretches her back. "But if you're trying to keep it a secret, I suggest not doing it in the same room, nevertheless bed as someone else."

"You're so small, I forgot you were there!" He sputtered, motioning to the tiny space she'd just been curled up in. 

"Yeah right, you totally wanted me to watch." She yawns and walks to the bathroom, sighing as she pees. A ruffling of the shower curtain makes her jump. Jean sits up in the tub, a pair of girls underwear around his head and one of the popcorn strings from the tree draped his neck. "Oh, morning cutie."

"What's up." She was surprisingly nonchalant. He was probably still drunk. Too drunk to remember. "My neck hurts like a bitch. Can you hand me a towel?" 

She reached up to grab one and tossed it over. He folded it up and fashioned a pillow. 

"Can you close your eyes for a sec?" 

"Don't have to ask me twice." He yawns and seems to fall back asleep.

She wipes and wiggles her shorts up. "Later, Jeanie."

She nearly trips over Eren in the hallway, having to step carefully between his legs while dodging the crushed beer cans littering the floor. Jesus Christ, she hadn't realized how bad they trashed Sasha's house. Her parents had apparently gone to visit her grandma for the night and were coming back that afternoon.

"Sash. Sasha." She shakes her friends shoulder.

"Five muh mm." She grumbled sleepy, face down in the couch. 

"I'm gonna find Annie and head out." Rori whispers, stroking her hair. She doesn't receive any response or acknowledgement so she just wanders back upstairs, looking in every room for a familiar head of golden hair. 

Of course, her friend is stark naked and tangled with her new boyfriend in Sasha's parents bed. Unbothered, Rori tosses a blanket over them for their own sake and nudges Annie.

"It's almost six. You have a flight at ten." Rori reminds her.

"Shit. I forgot. Ugh." She groans and sits up, exposing her bare chest. Armin blinks awake and sits up as well. His usual half-updo is completely matted on one side and hardly in the elastic band anymore. "What time is it?"

"Six."

"In the morning?"

"Yup. Merry Christmas."

"It's Christmas?" He jumps, obviously not recalling the day.

"No, Christmas Eve. I have to go, my planes in a few hours." Annie kisses his cheek tenderly and he sighs. "I'll miss you."

Rori silently gathers what she assumes are Annie's clothes, though she's really close in size to her boyfriend. 

"Meet you downstairs." Aurora leaves them to dress and say goodbye.

Soon the pair are on their way across the bridge. Back to bustling Manhattan, which is immune to the expected lull of early morning hours.

"Thanks for the ride." Rori hugs Annie from the side before crawling out. 

"No prob- hey." She suddenly reaches for her neck, brushing the hair away. Aurora flinches but doesn't pull back. "What the fuck? Whose knob did you slob last night?" The purple mark had been concealed by a turtleneck sweater during the party, but exposed looked angry and obscene on the light skin of her neck.

"It's not from last night."

"Rori! You skank!" Annie gasped, but a shit-eating grin softened her striking features. "Spill."

"Chalk it up to a Christmas miracle and mind your business."

Annie sighed but let it slide. She didn't have time to pry it out of her. "Merry Christmas, Rori. I wish you a million more hickies."

"And a happy New Year." She tacks on with a smile, closing the door and carefully avoiding a strip of ice. Not this time, Winter. Not this time.

Once inside, she feels as though she's taking off a mask along with her coat. Pretending to be healthily excited for the holiday is exhausting, but less exhausting than explaining why she hates it so much. 

She collapses on the couch, squeezing a few more hours of sleep in. Around nine she scavenges through tv channels for something unrelated to Christmas, but decides watching a cheetahs eat a baby gazelle, the only non-holiday oriented program, won't lift her mood.

She doesn't really want to get drunk again. Or masturbate again. Or call her dad's assistant-turned-wife back. Or think about how much better everything would be if her mom was here to hang lights and roast chestnuts like she did that one Christmas they spent in the Alps. No, not that. 

A self care day. That's what she needs. One nice bath with rose oil and bubbles, an exfoliating mask, and a full body shaving and moisturizing process later, she feels rejuvenated. Post traumatic stress disorder whom? Not her, that was for damn sure. 

With the volume set at ear bleeding permanent damage, she dances around the house in a silky camisole and underwear set that was way too uncomfortable to actually sleep in, but too cute not to wear.

It starts to get late and she runs out of stupid self indulgent things to do so plays with her phone a while. After a little deliberation, she sends a short text. 

'Can I call you?'

Immediately, her phone answers her question with a ring. She smiles to herself before picking it up.

"You okay?" 

"Were you waiting for me to text you?" She teases.

"I was playing 8-ball with shitty glasses. What's up?"

"I know it's your birthday eve but-"

"The birthday that I don't celebrate."

"-I'm really bored. And lonely." She ignores him.

"Wait... your dad isn't home?"

She pauses, not sure why he finds the information shocking. "He always spends Christmas in the Bahamas."

"I'm on my way."

She shudders at the tone of his voice.

In a blind panic she tidies the living room and slaps the subtlest makeup on time will allow. Should she wear pants? Would he think she was trying too hard?

She searches her drawers for a pair of sweats or something. A knock at the door makes her panic, and suddenly she doesn't know how to put shorts on. 

"Uh, one sec!" She shouts, not even sure if he can hear. She tries to run and dress at the same time, slipping and falling with a shout. She stands back up and swings the door open, cheeks red and chest heaving. "Hey."

He looks at her in confusion, hands stuffed into his pockets. "Are you drunk?"

"I fell."

"Because you're drunk?"

"No, I was trying to put pants on and run to- never mind." She steps aside and let's him in. She loves how he looks in unprofessional dress.

When the door is closed he leans in to kiss her. "You smell fucking delicious." 

"I took a forty minute bubble bath." She smiles and holds her arm up to his nose. He sniffs to humor her, quirking an eyebrow. "Is this supposed to convince me you're sober?"

"As a nun." 

He scoffs. "Cute. So why is your dad in the Bahamas?" He drops himself on the couch, spreading his arms and legs comfortably.

She wants to sit in his lap, but sits beside him instead. The boundaries of their intimacy were still unclear. She didn't know if they were a couple or... she cuts herself off and settles for leaning her knees against him. "Christmas is a no-go for us. We don't celebrate it."

"He should at least be here." He grimaces. When he meets that sorry asshole, he better have some fucking answers. It didn't register that he was making very long term plans in his head regarding his involvement in Rori's life. 

"No. Everything is worse when he's around. I'm worse."

"Care to elaborate?" He hooks his fingers into her hair, twisting a curl between his thumb and forefinger.

"The nightmares get worse. I don't eat. Or sleep. He just... he starts looking at me the way he looked at her. Like I'm a fucking thorn in his side. Makes all these excuses and promises because it's easier to pretend he's just busy, that it's all temporary and he's going to visit soon, instead of admitting he can't stand to see me walking around like her ghost." Her hands tighten into fists. He's surprised by the little demonstration of rage, having expected a more tearful sort of sentiment. But she was angry. Shit, he was too.

"I know you told me to just shut up and listen every time you talk about your parents, but you don't deserve it. Any of it." He touches the side of her face. "I'm sorry that it's like this."

"It's fine. I'm used to being disappointed. Hurt. It's just the way things are."

"They don't have to be that way." He shakes his head. "You can choose to leave people like that behind. I did."

Rori tilts her head up, pouncing on the opportunity to turn the tables on him. "That's vague. Care to elaborate?"

"No." He says flatly. "I wanna kiss you."

"Ah, ah, ah. Don't you try to take advantage of my adolescent hormones. You're not getting out of it, spill something shitty and personal to level the playing field." She scoots back as he reaches for her hips, barely dodging. Shit. She's too smart for her own good. He grunts. 

"Come on, lets unlock that tragic backstory."

"Sorry to disappoint, some people are really all they are on the surface. No reason at all." 

"Yeah, right. Cough it up or I'm kicking you out."

"On my birthday?" He feigns hurt.

She quirks a brow and crosses her arms. She isn't budging. "How 'bout Pink Sweater? That girlfriend you cryptically mentioned when I slept over."

He sighs and thinks of the best way to summarize a six year shit fest of a relationship. "Fiancé, actually."

Her eyes widen. "This is juicy already, please continue."

"If you're gonna be a smart ass about, I'm gonna make shit up." He warns. She holds her hands up in defeat and closes her mouth. He sighs again, somehow even deeper than before. "Met her at my first teaching job. Fucking hated her in the beginning, she was a people pleaser. Annoyed the shit out of me. I don't remember why I started dating her, I think we got set up by someone. I was stupid and bored, she turned out to be more fun than I expected. And a lot more trouble." He runs a hand over his face and through his hair. "She was a high functioning alcoholic. Bipolar depressive. Thought I could save her from herself, ended up fucking drowning us both. After breaking up and getting back together a few times I figured proposing would make her try a little harder to love me. Three days after the engagement I found some prick piledriving her in our bed. I quit my job, moved back here, haven't spoken to her since." 

It was very cut and dry, the bare details. Not that she expected anything more or less. Aurora decides to test whatever unspoken fences they'd put up by crawling over to his lap. "How long ago was that?"

"Four years."

"You kept her sweater for four years?" She asks, not meaning for it to sound as accusatory as it did. 

"It's not like I'm a very sociable guy, brat. When I let people in... it's... it's hard for me to let go." The admission makes him feel vulnerable. She can see it in his eyes. He doesn't know how she manages to force truth from him without saying a word, and he can't decide whether he likes it or not. Honesty isn't something he's accustomed to.

"I could never hurt you like that." She speaks softly. 

"I know." He knows.

Their lips meet. It's tender and void of the rough desire they were both prepared for. This was a different kind of desperation. It craved intimacy, understanding, full and complete honesty. 

He pulls away. "I have... something I need to get off my chest."

"Is it your shirt? I hope it's your shirt." She jokes, feeling a very familiar ache build.

"I can't stop thinking about you. I don't know if it's just lust or obsession or fear or... something else, but I want to figure it out." His tone is uncharacteristically uncertain. 

She's in love with him, she decides. "I've never wanted anyone the way I want you. I've never needed anybody like I need you." It's just a whisper, but the significance strikes him to his core. There wasn't an intelligible emotion in his mind, giddiness and anxiety and lust and fear all swirled between his ears and he couldn't make sense of anything but the warmth in her eyes. She could melt him with a look, he swore. 

Apprehension, the easiest feeling to address, won over the others. "Are you sure this is what you want? It's not just exciting because I'm older?" He didn't want to doubt her, but found it hard to believe that she could want some middle-aged, lonely, boring teacher while football players all but drooled at her feet. She'd be a fool to choose him. He'd drag her down, she'd get tired of him once the novelty wore off, she'd-

"I don't think you understand." She pulls him from his own head. "I have never wanted anyone. I've never felt this way before."

Levi, as severe as usually he is, looks shattered. Words would do a disservice to the magnitude of what he feels at that moment. So he demonstrates it instead.

With subtly unsteady hands, he lifts her. Kisses pepper her neck as he trails to her bedroom. Not that the floor wouldn't have been sufficient, but he didn't trust her adolescent ass to sanitize it properly. The excitement of realizing just what was unfolding her ties a knot in her stomach and she'd squeal if it wouldn't sacrifice her dignity.

Levi rests her on the mattress. She looks positively fucked out and he hasn't even touched her. What took an almost embarrassing amount of foreplay with other women to get him hard, Aurora could do with a pouted lip and some blushing cheeks. Everything about her was raw and unfiltered, he never wondered about her motives or thoughts or feelings. Perhaps it was her youth and inexperience that made her nature honest and exhilaratingly human. 

"You make me happy and it's honestly disgusting." He stands over her, grazing a slow hand over the curve of her hip.

His bitterness is endearing. "You make me happy and horny and mad all the time. It's confusing as fuck."

"Fuck." He echoes, as if it's a foreign word. "Maintenant il y a une idée (Now there's an idea)."

She can hardly contain a giggle, her blush stretching far lower than her neck. In fact, her whole body looks like a ripened peach. Everything under his touch is silky and supple. He feels unworthy of touching her with his calloused finger tips. It's a problem he has; thinking himself dirty. While the urge to feel her is unbearable, the underlying guilt associated with sullying her pure form stops his hand short. He pulls it away like the contact burns.

"What's wrong?" She sits up. The look he'd had just moments ago was replaced with a vacant stare. He put the walls back up. "Come here." Rori reaches for his hand, but he immediately untangles it.

"I'm gonna go smoke." He clears his throat. 

"No. You're gonna talk to me." She says firmly. "Is it what you mentioned before? You want to talk about it first? Protection and stuff? I'm-"

"No. Just, I need to think."

"Is it my age?" She quickly asks.

"Maybe. I don't think so. I don't know." He backs a step away and she crawls forward to capture his hand again. "Please, Levi. Talk to me." The earnesty in her gaze and tone stop him from pulling away a second time. Reluctantly, he sits. 

It takes a moment for words to manifest. "I think you're going to regret this."

She bites back her initial emotion, trying to listen rather than react. "Why?"

"You're young. You might want me now, but that could change. You could change. One day you'll decide that it was all a mistake." While his expression is set in stone, his eyes reflect all the insecurities he tried to suppress.

"Being with you could never be a mistake." She urges. "Please, just... just give me a chance."

He looks away. "I don't know how to touch you. I don't know how to love you." Sharing his emotions so openly is unfamiliar and leaves a tin taste in his mouth. Oppositely, it makes her heart swell.

"Like this." She leads his hand to her chest. He lets her direct it lower until it grows a mind of its own. He slips beneath her camisole, spreading his fingers of the expanse of her ribs. He's delicate, sure that if he puts too much power behind it, she'll fracture into shards of glass.

Her breath shallows and she lays back, pulling his forearms so that he hovers above her. 

"Can I... can I take it off?" 

Her own insecurities bubble to the surface but she nods, bracing herself. He slips it up in a quick movement, worried that his nerves will catch up to him. Then he stops. Just a soon as she'd expected. He traces over jagged skin, expression unreadable. The area is purple and caved beneath the rest of her skin, running in a near perfect line across the space between her hips. She answers a question he didn't ask. "My mom."

"Why?"

"She thought she was doing me a favor. To her, bearing children is a curse." It doesn't bother her as much as it used to. She didn't particularly like kids, and there were always alternatives. But then, she'd never thought too hard about someone seeing the damaged skin and knowing that beneath it, she was forever empty. 

He swallows his pity and drops to his elbows, kissing the scar above her pelvis and the brushing away her uncertainty. When his fingers hook into her shorts, giddiness overtakes her once more. He kisses every inch down as he tugs the fabric down. He stops again. "Are you a fucking crackerjack? How many more surprises you got?" He refers to the dark ink that occupies the area between her hip and thigh. 

"Plenty." She grins, a gleam in her eye. He matches her with a smirk. "You know roses are pretty cliche."

"It's not a rose, it's a tulip asshole."

"Why is that even worse?"

"Will you shut up?"

"Gladly." 

She gasps in surprise when he forces her knees to the side and delves into the space between them. If he's gonna do this, he's gonna make it unforgettable. His tongue flicks over her clit, then back, until he builds a rhythm of movement that draws out those sweet sounds he'd missed so much. The sensation is foreign and a little embarrassing, but not so much as to take away from the pleasure. 

He looks up at her, only his eyes visible as he buries his tongue within. The look reminds her of the cheetah she'd watched a few hours earlier, lazy in its overwhelming power. He could ruin her if he wanted too. She found herself unsatisfied with his featherlight touches.

"Levi." She whined, sitting up on her elbows to watch closer. With a little effort, two fingers slipped in and scissored apart. The sensation paired with the vibrations of his tongue on her clit curled her toes and loosened all the muscles in her neck. Her head lolled back and her moans reach a higher octave. "Levi, please." She doesn't know what she's asking for, but he somehow obliges with quick snaps of his wrist. It doesn't take much longer for the familiar contractions to begin, her insides tightening almost impossibly around his fingers. He doesn't stop his tongue until she melts against the mattress, struggling to catch her breath. His chin is painted with the juices of her, hot and nectarine. "Jesus."

He kisses the inside of her thighs and sits back on his knees to peel his shirt off. Her jaw goes slack. "What the fuck?"

"What's wrong?"

"You-! What?" She squawks, shooting up to run her hands over the impossibly rippled surface of her torso. Every muscle is defined, so chiseled and lean it has to have been modeled in marble by a some skilled Italian craftsman. He smirks. "I work out."

"No shit." She breathes, feeling a dire need to lick the dips in his abdomen. "I'm not equipt for for dealing with this revelation."

"What, did you think I had a dad bod?"

"No, but I didn't think you were fucking Mr. Universe either." She tackles him backwards, straddling his hips. His deeply indented, perfectly carved hips. He looks up at her, fully satisfied with her response.

"Can I suck your cock?" She asks so bluntly even he gets a little pink. She propositioned him as if she were just asking to borrow pencil, with a tone that expected rejection. 

"Do you want to?"

She rolls her hips in a tight circle over his jeans. He closes his eyes and exhales through his nose at the pressure. 

"I've been thinking about it for weeks." She climbs off to tug on his belt. The admission sends more blood to his cock, the strain against his closed zipper becoming too much.

"When?"

She palms the growing bulge, maintaining eye contact. "In class. On the train. In lunch detention." He thinks back to the day he realized how badly he wanted to feel her pretty little mouth around him. "You little shit. You did that on purpose."

"What?" She teases, playing with the zipper. 

"You practically deepthroated that banana."

"Hm? I don't recall." She feigns innocence, batting long lashes. The zipper slides so slowly that he can hear each individual notch as it clicks. He clenches his jaw, lifting his hips as she drags his pants down.

She's treating it like a fucking car unveiling on a game show. "Care to get the fuck on with it, petite coquine (little tease)?"

"It's your fault for making me wait." She kisses the tent and gingerly slides the top of his boxers down. "Merde." She breathes. "I don't even... is that supposed to fit?"

"You'd be surprised." 

"Oh, I am." She strokes him experimentally. He closes his eyes a moment, but decides the expression on her face is far better scenery. 

She'd seen plenty of porn. But this was... real. And bigger than the little rabbit vibrator hidden beneath her panty drawer. Suddenly she didn't feel so cocky- excuse the poor word choice. "You don't have to." He reminds her when the shell shocked look doesn't subside.

"I wanna try. I've just... I never... I don't want to mess it up."

"It'd be pretty fucking hard to screw it up, brat." He rolls his eyes. "What do you want me to leave you two alone?"

"Shut up." She pouts, then licks her lips. Again, she ignores her apprehension and presses her tongue flat against the underside of the head and licks up. The change in his expression is immediate, shifting from general amusement to a hardened stare. As creepy as it sounded, the pure naivety of her actions was far more gratifying than any amount of skill. Her expression was childish, movements sloppy and curious. And when she looked up to meet his eyes... it was fucking over. He gripped the back of her head, lacing his fingers in her hair. As badly as he wanted to savor the sensation of her mouth, it had been a while. A long while. He couldn't imagine himself lasting longer than ten minutes. She was so vivid with her mouth, so unaware of the power that she had over him.

He tugged gently on her hair after she seemed to lose herself into the shallow suction. Her lips popped off with a satisfying noise and her eyebrows pushed together. "Was I doing it wrong?" God... she was so fucking cute he could strangle her. 

"No. I just want you up here." He beckons, sliding her light frame up by her armpits. "Do you want to use a condom?" 

"I can't get-"

"There are other reasons for using them."

"I trust you." She shakes her head. 

His hands slide from her hips to her ass, kneading the firm flesh. "You know we don't have to do this right now." 

As much as she appreciates his gentle care, she wishes he was more forward. As gross as it makes her feel to think, she'd prefer him taking full control of her. "Levi?"

"Do you want to stop?" He asks quickly, searching her eyes for regret.

"Actually... I want more. Maybe more than you wanna give me right now."

He waits for elaboration, wracking his brain to understand her words. "I know you want to treat me like your blushing bride or whatever, but... can you be a little more... assertive?" She squeaks the last word, her skin flaming pink.

He stares at her, deadpan, like she's shorted out a fucking wire in his mind. Then, in a flash he's rolled her onto her back and pinned both arms with one hand above her head. She blinks, expecting a little more resistance from him. Or rather, a bit less.

"You better tell me if I hurt you, shithead. I mean it." 

"I will, I will." She nods eagerly. With the final go ahead, he leans down to fasten his mouth to her chest, nibbling just barely at the rosebud peak. Her tits aren't impressive in size by any standard, but he adores them. So much so that he sucks a bruise in a very obvious place at the top of her cleavage. 

She closes her eyes, pleased with the strength he displays in restraining her. He's barely exerting a fraction of his power, but she's still pinned to the sheets, vulnerable and at his mercy.

She feels a prodding at the meeting of her legs. It's somehow wetter than before, aching for the fullness his fingers had provided. But when he pushes in, even just the head is a little more stretch than she expected. A low grunt slips past his clenched teeth, then a growl as he slides in just a bit at a time. It hurt. She couldn't say it didn't. But the sting was oddly satisfying. It was so much better to be without control, solely focusing on the sensation rather than the ultimate goal of cumming as she did with her vibrator.

"Okay?" He asks, kissing her lips tenderly. She nods without opening her eyes, a little scared of an involuntary tear slipping and Levi scrapping the whole thing because he thinks it's hurting her. "Just wait a second." "Of course." He lets her arms free and teases her clit with one hand, her nipple with the other. The separate stimulations relieve the discomfort a bit and she opens her eyes again. "Levi?"

"Mm?"

"If you care about me, really care about me, fuck me like you hate me." 

She loves the shocked expression he wears, always proud to draw a reaction that isn't buried beneath layers of careful control and stoicism. It's like a glimpse beneath the mask he wore so often. 

His expression is absent again before he gives way to the animalistic desire that he'd been suppressing for weeks. He pulls her knees up over his shoulders and falls into a quick rhythm that he hadn't intended on. He'd show her what being an overzealous little tease would get her.

Her mouth widen into a silent 'o', unintentionally whimpering with every thrust. The sheer force behind it pushes air from her chest, and she has to brace her hand against the headboard to keep stable. The bed squeaks and groans in protest, a satisfying noise as he drives her into the mattress. She becomes a rag doll in his hold, legs flopping and arm loose around his neck. 

The discomfort she'd felt just minutes before is eased by the slickness coating her walls, muscles loosening to adjust with his size. He pulls her hips up for a better angle, and she instinctively clenches, forcing a moan from his otherwise silent mouth. It's the best thing she's ever heard, low and raw and so fucking gratifying that she gets to be the one that undoes him. He curses and starts to break a sweat, slowing his hips just the subtlest bit. Not that she'll probably know any better, but he doesn't want to cum as soon as he will. Selfishly, he wants to bury himself in her for as long as possible. It's the most alive he's felt in a long motherfucking time.

"Levi, holy shit." She bites down on her bottom lip, watching in wonder as his full length slides in and out with ease. They were made for each other. That was the only explanation.

His balls twitch, calculated tempo missed a few beats. Then she feels something hot spread through her as he slows to a stop. He collapses into her mouth, tongues languid and unconcerned with precision or technique as they slide comfortingly over one another. She wraps her legs around his waist, as if to trap him inside of her. It reminds him of a reverse koala bear or some shit. 

"I can't believe you almost had me wait three months." 

"Yeah, me neither."

"You wouldn't have lasted."

"I barely did anyways."

"I don't mind." She grins. "I'm just glad it fit."

"It's not a fucking shoe, dumbass. Now go pee before you get an infection." 

"Huh?" She wrinkles her nose.

He rolls his eyes. "What the fuck were you doing in health class?"

"Uh, being taught abstinence and shown pictures of terrible STD's instead of learning how to fuck my teacher."

He sighs, choosing to ignore her jest. "You should pee every time you have sex. Or jack off. Otherwise you could get a UTI."

"I think I knew that. Did I know that?" She lets her legs go limp and he rolls off of her. He'd swear she was glowing. As she crawls off the bed, her knees wobble. "Oh shit."

He grins proudly, despite his honest concern. "Hurts?"

"I think it's numb, actually. But my legs are jell-o cups. I think I wanna shower."

"Me too." He yawns and gets up, smacking her perfectly rounded ass with an open palm. She makes a noise akin to a whimper and they both freeze. He feels a twitch in his cock and in his left eye too. 

"We'll talk about that later."


	13. ?????????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT BUT MY FRIENDS BEEN STAYING WITH ME FOR TWO DAYS AND SHE'S A NOSY BITCH but I'm making her watch the anime and she likes it so maybe she won't think I'm as cringecore as I am.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so short, I'm so sorry. It's not edited yet but

"Why can't you come out with us?" Eren whined, "Doesn't Ackerman have anything better to do than torture you?" 

Now there was a suggestion. She bit back a smirk. "He's not so bad."

His eyes burned into her. Then his arm stopped hers. "Hey."

"Hm?" She looked up, oblivious and expectant.

He swallowed, cheeks burning a deep coral and heart pounding. He though about backing out. "I want to go on a date. A real one. Just you and me and a date-y vibe."

There was no visible change in her expression. He didn't know whether to be discouraged or hopeful. "Eren, I-"

"Let me save her breath. She's far more interested in the thousand word essay that needs to be on my desk tomorrow than a snot-nosed, shit wipe of a brat that can't take a hint." 

They both look to the open class room door that Levi is leaning out of, greening at his nonchalance. "Get back in here, Bonet."

"I-I was gonna walk him to his car, Mr.-"

"Now." His tone didn't change, but it still seemed like a threat. Rori looked to Eren with wide eyes and furrowed brows of apology. He shriveled under the gaze of Demon Overlord Ackerman, which he felt was more aptly nicknamed than ever at that moment.

He didn't move out of the way to let Rori in, instead forcing her to shuffle past him and definitely brush his chest. It didn't seem to phase him, but he very obviously looked over her ass as she passed, then back up to Eren. After being thoroughly satisfied in his display of power, he closed the door.

"What the fuck, Levi?" She whispered, shoving his chest once the door clicked. He let her push him against the wall and smiled. "You're not thankful that I saved your ass from having to reject that kid right in the hall? Seeing is kicked-puppy face? Now you can call me an asshole, say you're too busy with schoolwork to date but you still value their friendship, and brush it off like it was nothing." 

She wanted to be mad. She really, truly did. He was a fucking asshole and he did that to assert his dominance, not slide her a get-out-of-jail-free card. But god... he was so hot in his rolled up sleeves and pleated pants. The possessiveness rung a bell in the back of her mind that she decided to ignore in favor of pressing her open mouth to his. He glided his tongue over hers languidly, allowing her to take control and work out whatever frustration he could sense in her tense little shoulders. Until she bit him. A harsh little nip on his bottom lip made him start, but she held onto it between her teeth as she pulled away. Shit. It was kind of hot.

He scooped her up with one arm and locked the classroom door with the other, plopping her on a desk just outside of view from the small window in the door. "Maybe we should catch the early train-"

"You think I'd wait two hours to punish your little ass?" He all but growled over her ear. His hands grips and asscheek with bruising force. Not that she minds. 

"Eren said something about you torturing me."

"Prophetic." He murmurs, nibbling the lobe of her ear. 

"We shouldn't do this here." 

"Of course we shouldn't. That's the whole point." He massages his fingers into her thigh. 

Regardless of her apprehension, lust clouds her better judgement and she catches his mouth again. Her fingers graze his belt buckle and move to unhinge it. A knock on the door sends her into a panic, pushing him back and struggling to rebutton her shirt. 

Levi is calm, shooting a warning glance at her as the door knob rattles. He unlocks it and steps aside. 

"Lock your door to grade in peace?" Mr. Smith jokes. He walks past her unknowingly and she shuffles behind a desk.

"I got fed up with the interruptions." Levi looks pointedly at her, as if telling her to keep her cool. She smooths the front of her shirt.

"Ah, I didn't realize..." Erwin finally notices her and pauses. He looks between them. Levi leans against the wall and puts his hands in his pockets. 

"Miss Popular tried to ditch today. With Yeager."

"Ah. Uh. Shouldn't reprimand be dealt with by the office?"

"I suppose. If you want her, you can have her."

"Where is Mr. Yeager." 

"Said he had football practice. He's opting for lunch detention."

"You seem to... have everything handled." Erwin speaks hesitantly. There was something raw in their eyes and something entirely too familiar. "Ms. Bonet, I can't say I expected such poor judgement from you. We'll talk tomorrow."

She lowers her head, cheeks blazing for an entirely different reason than her perceived shame. 

Levi sighs. "Tch. Did you come in here for something else?"

"An unscheduled staff meeting. There is a surprise evaluation from the school board on Thursday."

"Inconsiderate fuckers. I wanted to get some of these shitty essays done." Erwin winces at Levi's language as usual. "You're free to go brat. You'll have lunch detention with Yeager." 

"Yes, sir." She manages, ducking her head as she grabs her bag and scurries out.

Erwin watches her leave. "What is it about her?"

"What?" Levi looks up from collecting his papers.

"In as long as I've known you, I've never seen you take interest in a student this way."

"I don't know what you're talking about. She acts up all the fucking time, even if it's by proxy. She hangs out with those assholes that get her in trouble, I can't let it slide because she's new." There's a tinge of annoyance in his words.

"She doesn't have trouble in any of her other classes."

"Maybe the teachers are fucking push overs." He snaps. Levi knows he's gone too far. He's digging his own grave. "Whatever. When's this meeting?"


	14. ??????????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nicole Dollanganger "Lemonade"  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lYmVfHgiEik

Riding the train alone feels... odd. Empty. 

Eren texts and asks to talk. 'In person', he adds without his usual array of emojis. She looks at her phone for what feels like an hour. She tells him to pick her up from the train station.

He's coincidentally parked right beside Levi's sleek black car in his classically rusted Ford. She liked that he didn't drive something new and showy like the rest of her peers. For the son of a famous doctor, he didn't seem to flaunt himself. Not that she'd go and give him an award for not being a pompous asshole like Jean, but it was refreshing.

"Hey." He doesn't seem as nervous as he was in the hall, but his tone is lacking the youthful edge it typically had. He seems older without that boyish obliviousness. 

"Hi." She climbs in. "Sorry about Levi- I mean, Ackerman."

He looks at her from the corner of his eye and starts the ignition. "You've been doing that a lot lately."

"What?"

"Calling him Levi. Why would he let you do that?"

"He doesn't." She thinks quickly. "It annoys him, so I use his first name."

Eren doesn't answer, driving with his knuckles tight on the wheel. It was a tradition for the football players to wait until pre-season to cut their hair. In the short time he'd been letting it grow, it had already reached past his ears. She liked it this way. 

"Where are we going?"

"I know a spot in Central Park." The ticking of his blinker fills the silence. He hadn't turned on the radio as he usually did. 

They don't speak again until they walk through trees, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his varsity jacket and hers rubbing gloved fingers together for warmth. It hadn't snowed much this year, but the ground was still crisp and sometimes slippery.

They sit on the edge of a bridge, overlooking the stagnant water below. 

"I know he was just being an asshole but... what Ackerman said... I know I'm kind of dopey when it comes to picking up on other people's feelings... am I just annoying you or something?" He doesn't look to her, skipping a rock across the ice. It breaks the cold surface with a crack and sinks into the water below.

"Of course not." She breathes. "You're one of my best friends. And I don't use that lightly."

Friends. His stomach sinks with another stone. "That's not what I want to be, though. I mean, I want to be your best friend but I want to be more than that too."

She chews her bottom lip a moment. "I don't really... think of you that way. I wish I did but, I'm kind of... into somebody else."

Eren turns to her, eyebrows pushed together in anger. His fist closes. "Reiner?"

She knows it's not the time, but she can't help but laugh at the irony. "No. It's not anybody we hang out with."

"Well, does he feel the same?"

"Yeah. He does."

"You're... together? You have a boyfriend?"

"Um... I'm not sure. It's complicated." 

"Complicated." He echoes. "Love shouldn't be complicated."

The word makes her cringe. "You don't love me, Eren."

"How would you know?" He looks back at her, his ever-expressive eyes wavering with hurt. 

"Sorry, I guess I wouldn't. I can't tell you how you feel." She breathes. "I'm sorry. I know it's no consolation, but I care about you a lot. I just don't feel anything... romantic."

"I won't give up." He speaks quietly, turning back to the water.

"What?"

"I said I won't give up. You may not like me now, or ever, but I won't stop. I've never met anyone like you and I won't give you up." She swears his eyes are glowing in the hazy yellow of the street lamps. It makes her swallow.

"I'm... I'm not a prize, Eren."

"Do you love him?" He asks suddenly. "Does he love you?"

"I... I don't know." 

"I want you to be happy, even if it's not with me. Don't get me wrong. I know I can't force you to feel the same. But you need to know that everything I do... it's because I love you. And I'll be whatever you need. Even if it's just a friend for now. I hope that if shit doesn't work out with this... dude, you'll try to think of me in a different light. I just want a chance."

Her palms are clammy in her gloves. "Okay. I'll try."

Surprisingly, he smiles. Like he hadn't just been angrily declaring his love. It's carefree and boyish and... natural. He isn't forcing it. "Thanks. Do you wanna go home?"

"We should sit here. Just for a little bit." 

"Okay."

"Okay."  
.....................

He drops her off near midnight. Leaving his warm truck is hard, especially after feeling the need to reassure him that she really does care about his feelings. For some reason it doesn't feel obligatory or pitying as it had before. She just doesn't want to lose him. She doesn't want to hurt him more than necessary.

After her bath, she realizes that Levi never called. Not that they spoke on the phone too often, but she figures he would want to tell her what happened with Erwin after she left. He seemed suspicious, which was bound to make Levi a million times more nervous than she was. She decided a text would suffice so late in the evening. 

'Is everything okay?'

She crawled into bed and waited. When her phone buzzed she jumped up.

'We'll talk tomorrow.'

It made her stomach feel heavy, but she forced herself to fall asleep regardless. Rori wasn't always sure of the triggers for her nightmares and flashbacks, but even the notion of rejection could make her wake up in a panic. She didn't remember the dream, but it had made the sheets wet with cold sweat, heart pounding and eyes streaming like faucets. It was just past four in the morning. She'd have to be out the door in an hour anyways, so she didn't fall back asleep.

With the extra time she put a little more makeup on than usual, picked out an outfit rather than throwing on whatever wasn't dirty, and braided her hair into two messy pigtails. Curls poked out from each individual braid, bangs puffy and soft and tendrils framing her cheeks as always. Looking nice made her feel... safer, somehow. Like people would want to be especially nice and gentle. And by people, she meant Levi.

He wouldn't meet her for the morning train, so she caught it with Annie and Armin. 

"What's the deal with this guy? Why can't we meet him?" Annie asks quietly, not having finished her coffee yet. 

"Maybe we know him." Armin thought aloud. "Do we know him?"

Rori lies, which she hates but finds unavoidable. "No. Remember who I stayed with after The Survey Corpse concert?"

"You said nothing happened."

"Nothing happened. That weekend at least." She fought a bashful smile. Annie's eyes widened. "Are you getting dick on the regular, now?"

"Annie." Armin warned her, very aware of the people next to them staring.

Annie didn't make a habit of caring what people thought. "And he's older, right? How much older?"

"Uh... we've only... you know, a handful of times. And he's a little bit older."

"Give me an age range."

"Uh... 25-35."

"That's a huge fucking range!" She gasps. "Does he have kids? Are you a homewrecker? What's he doing fucking seventeen year olds?"

Even Armin deadpanned. "That's... old. It's even creepier because you look so..."

Rori blinks. 

"Little. Like Lolita complex, little." Annie interjects. Armin nods. "Not that it's a bad thing, it's really cute, like Historia, but... with a guy that old he's probably looking for something like that. It's not like he wouldn't have known you weren't old enough and then found out later. He probably likes you because you look young. Which is... gross."

"You mean I should... make myself look older?" She furries her brow, suddenly extremely self conscious.

"Honestly... I think you should see if he reacts to you dressing a little more... maturely." Armin suggests, obviously trying not to offend.

"What's immature about my clothes?" She pouts.

"The thigh socks, for one. You wear a lot of light colors and short dresses, even in winter. Which like, hey, power to you but it's like a pedophiles dream." Annie gently tugs Rori's cotton skirt.

"The correct term is ephebophilia." Armin notes, to which Annie rolls her eyes.

"Why don't I take you shopping? Show you some new makeup tricks. When's the next time you see him?" 

"Uh, tonight hopefully." She says awkwardly, not sure how open she is to changing her wardrobe. A lot of clothes were one-of-a-kinds from antique stores and thrift shops. Sure, they were a little outdated, but the detailing and brightness made her extremely attached to them. It was different than the sleek, all black Parisian style her mother had been so fond of. She liked having her own style.

"Let's go after schools. Maybe even ditch last hour. Who do you have?"

"Ackerman."

"Oh, never mind. He's a cunt, you'll never escape."

.....................

In the office, Rori lounges around. There wasn't much to do in the beginning of a new semester. No events to make hand-outs for, no filing, no cleaning. So she sits in a chair and spins in circles. 

"Aurora, we said we'd talk yesterday, didn't we?"

Shit, she'd forgotten. "Oh, um, sure, yeah." She stands a little to quickly and bangs her knee on the desk. As much as it hurts, she shuffles into Erwin's office. "Close the door." He instructs her. 

She sits with a lump in her throat. He just sits and looks at her for a moment. "Mr. Ackerman told me you've been having some issues in his class."

That asshole. He was gonna get it later. "I'm pretty sure everyone has issues in his class." She fights a snort, crossing her arms.

"Does he do anything that makes you particularly... uncomfortable?" Erwin speaks carefully. 

"What?"

"I mean, you spend a great deal of time with him almost every day. I find it odd."

"I'm pretty sure he's out to get me because I'm as good at French as he is." She shrugs, brushing off the suspicious nature of his questions. It made her sweat.

"So it's a childish rivalry?"

"Would you put it beneath him?"

"Actually I would. As harsh as he is, he's typically more indifferent towards students. Except for this year. You and Eren Yeager are particularly affected by his behavior." 

"He hates that kid." She nods in agreement. "But we both deserve it. Eren's stupid and doesn't think before he does anything. I'm just a more outspoken than I should be, and I recognize that. He just... rubs me the wrong way." 

Rubs. The thought makes Erwin a little queasy. "Try not to make any more trouble for yourself. Mr. Ackerman is a very serious man, but one of our best teacher's. I trust his judgement, even if I know you to be... different than he claims."

"Roger that." She stands, unsure of why she felt nervous in the first place. Oh yeah, because she's fucking her teacher and this man is suspicious. Right. "Mind if I leave early for class?"

"No, go on ahead."

She walks through the hall and stops in the bathroom on the way. She stares at her reflection.

Her cheeks were round and a little chubby if she was being honest. Her eyes were fish-like, big and overpowering. She hadn't really changed much since she was little, save growing a few inches and rounding out in areas she'd been flat before. Did she really look that young? Was Levi attracted to it? Was that the only reason he even paid attention to her?

The bell rings like a death toll. Levi doesn't look up when she sits in her desk. She sinks down as small as she can make herself without looking ridiculous. Class drags on for an eternity and when the bell rings she's quick to shuffle out with Eren. Levi watches her leave with a blank expression. Why didn't she wait? 

His phone buzzes a few minutes after. 'Plans with Annie. I'll come over tonight.' He curses under his breath. She was avoiding him. Not that he blamed her, he was a dick yesterday. But almost getting caught... it made him really, really think about what they were doing.

And he is pretty sure it's going to end in tears and fire. More specifically, him being fired.

............................

"How about this?" Annie tosses another shirt over the dressing room door. 

Rori sighs when she slips it on. "Maybe if I got a boob job."

"Talk to Eren's dad." Annie jokes.

"Can you find something less... stringy?" She calls out, throwing the garment back over.

"Yeah, yeah hold on. I think Armin found something. Oh shit, babe. This is great." This time Annie slides it under the door. Rori grabs it. The color is nice. She likes burgundy.

She slips it on and admires herself in the mirror. "Let me see." Annie demands. It was a simple sweater dress with a low turtleneck and cut off just above the knee. It was sexy in it's tightness, but more sophisticated than anything.

Rori opens the door and does a cheeky twirl. 

"That's perfect." She nods. "Good job, daddy." 

Rori gawks. Armin's face burns bright pink. "Daddy?"

"I... uh." he stutters.

Annie grins. "It's just a joke." 

Rori ignores the glint in her eyes. "Freaky."  
.........................

Annie drops her off a block from Levi's building. She walks the rest of the way, tugging her dress down as it rides up. Her hair had been (forcibly) removed from it's pigtails, her natural curls now loose and wavy from the braids.

She buzzes up to his apartment. In the elevator she touches up her lipgloss and tries to soothe the dread in her stomach. 

When he opens the door, his cold eyes run over her frame instinctually. "That's new." He says flatly and steps aside. 

"Yeah. We went shopping."

"It makes your ass look huge."

She walks in and drops her bag on the coffee table. "Is that... good?" 

"Yeah." 

She's unsatisfied with the nonchalance of his attitude. Somehow, it was even more monotonous and empty than ususal. She could sense a difference.

"I talked to Erwin, today. He told me to stop fucking around in your class." She sits and crosses her legs. He shuffles around in the kitchen, returning with two drinks.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Mm."

They sit in silence.

"What did we need to wait to talk about?" She fidgets with her hair.

Gingerly, he slips his hand in hers. It takes a moment for him to put the thoughts that had ravaged his mind in the past 24 hours into words. "I don't think this is good for you. Or me."

There it was. What she'd ruled out as a possibility. 

"Are you really breaking up with me?" She looked to him, more shocked than anything. "After everything you said?" 

"No. I just don't think we should keep having sex. At least until the school year is over. I want to be there for you, but... within limits. Not at your house anymore, not at mine. It makes it hard to... control myself." He clears his throat. "Once you graduate it'll be different. Easier."

She slips her hand away and folds it in her lap. "What if you don't want me then?" 

His stoicism breaks for the first time and he chuckles. "Why do you think I like you, brat?"

She swallows. "Because I look young."

"Are you calling me a pervert?"

"Kind of."

He narrows his eyes but can't really argue against it. "You're honest. I don't know if it's your personality or just naivety, but you don't bridle anything about yourself. I don't ever wonder if you're lying or pretending to be who I want you to be. You make me nostalgic, I guess."

"Nostalgic for what?"

"Happiness." He blinks. "But I don't think I can control myself around you if I let my guard down. So I'm putting up some parameters. And anyways, I want you to fucking enjoy high school. Not sit around pining over me instead of going out and having fun. Doing whatever dumb shit teenagers do."

"Don't tell me how-"

"I'm not telling you how to live. I'm giving you the opportunity to." He stops her. "And... I want you to... go out. With people." 

He swallows. It hurts to even think about. 

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean, I don't want you to have to stay loyal to someone you probably don't have a future with." He looks into his cup and runs his finger over the rim.

"I don't... what..." she stumbled around in her mess of thoughts, trying to work out exactly what was happening. "Are you saying that because... you have someone else?"

He looks at her like she turned into a manatee right there on the couch. "I haven't dated in four years and you think I'm just gonna go sticking my dick into whatever comes around?"

"I don't know." She blushes, crossing her arms. 

"Look at me." He brushes her chin. Shit. He wants to kiss her so badly. "This isn't over. It's just on hold. Go enjoy the last bit of high school, guilt free. When you're ready, I'll be right here."

She puts her hand over his. "But I'm ready now. I told you, I don't feel this for anyone else. I can't."

"Then don't date. Whatever. Just... don't make yourself grow up if you don't have to. I was selfish to get involved with you so early. I want you to try and have a relatively normal experience. For me." He found solace in her words, it made him want to scrap the whole thing and apologize. But he couldn't. This was more to control himself than it was for her.

She bites her lip. "I can't... kiss you anymore?"

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck- "No. i just... I really need to keep a... physical barrier." His eyes trail over her body and he feels the low rumbling of hunger in his chest. 

Rori feels crushed. Not being able to touch him... it makes her fingers itch and her eyes water. "Fine." She stands up and grabs her bag with more force than necessary. "I understand." She says flatly, her back facing him as she steps out the door. It slams before he can stop her. 

Somehow, he'd expected it to be more of a tearful, begging situation. Which just proves what he'd already known. He can't underestimate her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment with things you'd like to see, because I honestly have no plan. I write by the seat of my pants, with very loosely structured development. Please help me.


	15. ???????????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, my dumbass started like 5 side projects and got a little less invested in this one. Whenever I promise an update, don't believe me. I'm like the dad that goes for cigarettes and never comes back, but if you comment angrily I'll definitely update.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song:   
> Fox Academy's 'Saint'  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=acpiEz4FjQ8  
> As always, this chapter isn't edited.

Everything is grey. Winter has lost its fresh crispness, the excitement of a new season. Without Christmas lights glittering the city, it becomes sloshy and bitterly cold. Lonely once more.

Rori wraps her scarf tighter so that the fabric covers up her nose. It had been three weeks of silence. She hadn't spoken much to anyone after telling Annie that she'd been dumped. She must've spread the word because everyone seemed to be giving her space.

Everyone except Eren.

"This is the best place for pie in the city." Eren promises, eyes glittering as they near a small shop with sweet things displayed proudly in the window.

She follows him in, silent and languid, skin peachy with frost. Like a child, Eren bends to scan the pies behind the counter. "I like the lemon meringue and the French silk, but the Oreo is really good too. Which one looks good?"

"Whatever you want." Rori looks absently over them. She doesn't listen to what he orders, sitting down at a booth. He returns with a box. "Eren, why would you buy whole pie?"

"Because we're gonna eat it." He shrugs and sits, dropping a plastic fork in her lap. "It's good break-up food."

She sighs. "I'm not really hungry."

"Just try it." He pleads, holding her hand and wedging the fork between her limp fingers. 

He's right, it's fucking delicious. "Not bad."

"Told you." He grins, taking forkfuls right from the middle. "So, you wanna talk about what happened?"

"Not particularly." She shrugged. "It's not... over for sure but... he did put the brakes on everything. Which sucks."

"So, you're not together, but you're not really broken up?" 

"I'm not sure. He's not really great at communication."

"Do you know why he pulled the plug?" 

"I'm young. He wants me to finish out high school." 

Eren pauses, fork hovering above the pie. "Wait, he's older?"

"Yeah." She puts a sliver of the broken off crust into her mouth.

"Like... how older?"

"Older, older." She speaks vaguely. Eren frowns but says nothing for a moment. 

"Maybe it's for the best."

"Maybe." She replies, though she doesn't believe that at all. She can't.  
..........................

The nerve of him to ignore her so pointedly in class. He started assigning her the same bullshit section translations as everyone else to avoid speaking with her, despite her finishing the work in five minutes.

He read e-mails, graded papers, fucking scanned a book; anything to avoid her eyes. They burned into him, he could feel it. He hadn't intended for them to completely cut off contact, but the last few weeks had been progressively harder to acclimate to. How was he supposed to maintain their relationship without crossing a boundary of his own making? Especially in the skirt she was wearing today. She seemed to be a little more... aware of her clothing choices recently. Regardless of the single digit morning temperatures, her hem-lines had risen considerably. Her shirts got tighter, lower cut, and there was definitely more cleavage than he knew, from first hand knowledge, to be anything aside from a new bra. 

It almost offended him, that she would think his resolve would melt from seeing her thighs. Did she think he was just some old lecher? Of course he was... distracted, but he made this decision with both of their long term well beings in mind. He wouldn't give in so easy.

Disappointed by the obvious lack of reaction to her outfits, Rori resolved to hang onto Eren a little tighter. As she and Mikasa met him by the door, she pointedly slipped her arm under his and laughed at his stupid joke. He started, surprised by her initiating contact so carelessly, but smiled after a moment. 

Levi looked on, forcing the surge of jealousy back down his throat. He knew what she was doing. She was using Eren. It was a game to her. 

One he wouldn't play.  
................................

Erwin sputtered coffee, staining his crisp white shirt. "Miss Bonet!"

"Hm?" She picked a pen up from the floor and placed it on the front desk. 

"You just- uh, that skirt isn't- I don't believe it's appropriate for school. I'm gonna have to dress code you." He focused his eyes squarely on her face, worried of letting them wander anywhere else.

"It's past my fingertips." She held her arms to her sides to demonstrate. The hem barely hung below her middle finger.

"You have exceptionally short arms." He grumbles. "I suppose just... don't bend over."

"Yeah, my bad." She shrugs, deadpan. 

"It's the dead of winter. Aren't you cold?" He notices the coffee spots on his shirt and frowns. 

"Not really." She is freezing. Every time she steps outside, her thighs go red and itchy with cold. 

"Are you sure? I could wrangle up some sweatpants from the lost and found. Not that you have to wear them now, if you're embarrassed, you can put them on before leaving." 

She offers a half smile and shakes her head. "I'm alright. Thank you."

He clicks his tongue and puts his coffee down. "Care to explain the recent change in wardrobe?" 

"No." 

"Is it a boy?" 

"Is this appropriate?" She mocks, her tone sharp. Immediately, she regrets it and her face softens. "Sorry. Yeah, kind of."

"I don't want to impose but... maybe this isn't the best way to get his attention. If he likes you-"

"It's the opposite, actually." She stops him and sits down. She doesn't know why she's still talking to him, but something about Mr. Smith's earnesty is consoling. "He dumped me."

Erwin's eyebrows bush together in something between shock and pity. "Oh. Oh! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine. I don't know what I'm doing either." She sighs and runs a hand over her hair. 

Erwin thinks a moment as to whether to continue or not. Then he leans against the desk and picks his coffee back up, just to have something in his hands. "Is this... how you're trying to get him back?"

"I- I don't know." She stutters. "I just... want to feel in control. He makes all the decisions and I just have to.. deal with them. I just wanted a reaction, I guess."

"I know it's not as easy as shaking it off, but... maybe you should invest your time... elsewhere?" He clears his throat awkwardly, trying to maintain a consistent tone and failing.

"What, and join Chess club?" She snorts. 

"I meant invest in other people, but sure, if you'd rather do that." He chuckles.

"I'm... not really good at trusting people. Relationships are kind of a big deal for me. I'm not really a casual kind of person." She says awkwardly. 

Erwin nods. "I understand. If it's any consolation, I have the same issues now at twice your age."

She laughs and her nose crinkles in the cutest way. He smiles. "What?"

"Is that supposed to cheer me up? I'm gonna be lonely forever?" 

"I-I'm not lonely!" He protests. "I just... don't date often." 

"Well, I'm lonely." She says almost absently. Shit, she can't stop talking.

He frowns. "What about your friends?"

"It's not that kind of lonely." 

A fire erupts over his cheeks and he pushes his glasses back. They've begun to slip. "Uh. I'm sorry, what are we talking about now?"

"Me oversharing. Sorry. I'll go hang in the library if that's cool." She stands up abruptly.

"That's fine, I- ah! Aurora, skirt." His eyes squeeze shut and his fluster deepens.

"Sorry." She flattens it. "I'll see you later, Mr. Smith."

"Uh, yeah. Of course." The formal name shakes him like from something of a trance and he straightens up. God, he really needed to get himself together.


	16. ????????????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short but effective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get porn! And you get porn! And you get porn! You ALL get porn!

She's already decided what she's going to do before she enters the room. Her heart does a jitterbug dance against her ribcage and her knees feel like slinkies. 

She takes her seat and stares at him, waiting to meet his eyes. For the third day in a row, he looks at his phone from the moment he stands up to when he positions himself at the center of the room. He doesn't look at her once.

"Get your notes out, today is a lecture." His voice fills the room effortlessly, just before the final bell rings.

Thirty minutes pass and she's begun to lose her nerve. Then he looks at her. It sends a surge of electricity through her heart and revives the hope that had been demolished in the past few weeks. In his absence, she'd really considered that he was lying the whole time. It was all an act to get in her pants, and now that he had what he wanted, he was severing ties. So why wasn't she angry? Why didn't she hate him? Why was she so willing to regain his affections? It was fucking embarrassing, degrading even. She hated herself more than she hated him.

As always, he gives them time to work on their homework assignment and sits down. This is her chance. Subtly, she leans her knees towards his desk. Then she spreads them.

She'd taken her underwear off between periods and stuffed them into her backpack. It felt like her cheeks could cook an egg, stained a deep red since the moment the idea popped into her head.

Levi has been able to condition himself not to look at her. It only took a few days of conscious effort, now it felt a little more natural. But he slipped every now and then, and when he spared her a glance she flooded his thoughts again and he couldn't flush her out.

His eyes dart up. She's reading her book for once, or at least seems to be. Her face is void of the concentration she usually has. His eyes skim over her tight sweater, her soft thighs and-

His stomach does an aerial spin and sticks the landing. He blinks a few times, unsure of what he's seeing is real. Is he awake? Dreaming? Fantasizing? The crotch of his trousers inflate like pulling the rip cord of a parachute, a faint pink spreading over his neck and face.

She looks up finally. Their eyes meet. Subconsciously, she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth. His gaze, flicking between her face and her thighs, makes her wet. 

He sets his jaw and takes a deep breath through his nose and turns back to the computer.

Her face falls. Hesitantly, she tucks her knees back together and slumps over the desk in disappointment. She wasn't sure what she expected from him, but it wasn't that.

The clock ticks the minutes away. "You're dismissed. If you get caught in the hallway, you're from Zacharius' class." He announces two minutes before the bell. 

People jump to get their things, rushing out the door like the room's on fire. Except for her. She glances at Eren, who waits at the door for her. He raises his brows, she nods and waves him off. He waits a moment before walking from the classroom, Mikasa on his heels.

Levi stands up, leaning over his desk. His dick is still hard against his zipper. "What the fuck do you want, Aurora? Do you want me to bend you over and fuck you in class? Maybe profess my love for you with the announcements? Will that satisfy you, princess?"

She grits her teeth and stands. She doesn't want to have to look up at him. "I want you to keep your fucking promises. You won't talk to me, look at me... what am I supposed to think, Levi? You did this for my benefit? What kind of bullshit is that? I don't want this, this doesn't help me. You fucked me, you left, and now you get to pretend nothing happened while I have to sit here and fucking-" 

He reaches for her hand. "Stop."   
She didn't cry visibly- her trembling fists and jutted chin did it for her. "Stop, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He speaks softly, pulling her to his chest. She sniffs, burying her face in his shirt and hooking her fingers in his belt. 

"Why don't you want me anymore?" 

It breaks his heart. He strokes her hair, looking wearily at the door. "I want you... so much." 

"I'm yours. I told you, I'm yours." She looks up at him, eyes glossy and lashes clumped with tears. 

He rubs his thumb over her cheek, then the corner of her lips. "Get on the desk."

She blinks, then lifts herself on to it. He cups her jaw, moving to press himself against her. 

"Lock the door." She whispers.

"No."

"We could get caught." 

"I don't care." He breathes over her lips before pressing against them. It's gentle, then hungry. He tips her head back and trails down her neck with his teeth. She closes her legs around his hips, trapping him in place. "No panties? You're a bad girl, Rora." He pressed the pad of his thumb over her clit. She shudders, spreading her thighs wider. "I wouldn't expect something so filthy of you." 

He slips a finger in and she whimpers. "Levi..." 

"More?"

"Mhm."

He pushes a second one in. It stings and stretches. She wants even more. "Fuck me. Please." 

"Not here." He curls his fingers up and back, making a hooking motion deep within her. Lewd, wet noises accompany her labored breaths.

Levi glances to the door again, his nerves getting the better of him. He pulls away, admiring his work. Her inner thighs are coated in wetness, pussy pink and swollen with arousal. "Get your things, we're going home."


	17. ?????????????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Most of this was written post-panic attack at 3am and it's completely unedited so... don't roast me too hard. Turns out mental breakdowns are really good for creativity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song:  
> Bleed Bleed Bleed by Thieves like Us https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JG4TNSjWCUg

While she expects the train ride to be sexually charged, it's quite the opposite. In fact, he decides that being trapped in close proximity for two hours is a perfect opportunity to talk about their feelings. Figures. 

It starts with a gentle, "how have you been doing?" That feels completely out of place after finger fucking her on a classroom desk.

"Shitty. You?"

"Equally. You drinking again?"

"I never stopped." She shrugs. 

"Anything else?"

"Smoking, sometimes. Why?"

"Nothing, I just don't know what kind of shit your friends are into." 

"They look like cokeheads to you?" She rolls her eyes and looks out the window, feeling herself fall into the familiar light bickering that their relationship was founded on.

"With the way Yeager jumps around, I wouldn't be surprised. Speaking of..."

"No, we're not fucking. Or dating. Or anything. I wanted you to be jealous." She answers the question before it's asked. 

He nods, solemnly. "Well, it worked."

"What about you? Gone on any dates?" She teases.

"Tch." He doesn't merit it with a response. Without thinking, he runs a hand over the side of her face. He hadn't checked to see if anyone from school was riding the train with them. Though, he was honestly having trouble caring anymore. After seeing the hurt in her round eyes, nothing seemed as important as never causing that pain again. Even his career.

She adopts his cautiousness, glancing around at the commuters before leaning her head into his shoulder. "I still don't get why you did this." There is no malice in her tone, no hurt either. Just a blatant statement of her thoughts. 

"I thought it was better for us. For you." He sighs, voice quiet and steady beneath the clicking and shaking noises of the train car. "I knew you'd be upset but I didn't realize... are you having nightmares again? You look tired."

"Yeah." She admits. "But don't blame yourself. It just... happens when I'm stressed. It's not your job to be a knight in shining armor to chase them away."

"I want it to be." 

She sits up and looks at him. He can't read her typically expressive eyes. "What do you mean?"

"What I said, dumbass. I want to be there for you. And this time I won't fuck it up." He slides their fingers together and locks them tight. 

"So... what is this then?" She tries to play down the pure elation she's feeling. She hates giving away too much in the face of Levi's inexpressiveness. 

"Whatever you want it to be. You make all the rules now." 

Her lips spread into something devilish. "Rules, huh? All mine?"

He notices the glint in her eyes and narrows his suspiciously. "I meant our relationship, you little pervert."

"Yeah, uh huh." She says absently, already thinking about all the ways she'd like to be tied up. Then a thought pops into her and her eyes light like a National Lampoon's Christmas. He raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"Does this mean I can call you my boyfriend?" She almost gasps, cheeks turning ruddy.

Shit. She's so fucking cute. It was like dating a golden retriever with a great ass. Dating... he could get used to using that. "You fucking twerp." He rubs his hand over her already messy hair. "After all the shit we did, you didn't consider me your boyfriend?"

"I don't know!" She defends herself, voice squeaking above the whispered tone they'd been using. "I've never dated anyone before, i thought we may have been like... advanced friendship."

"Ad-advanced friendship? That's the word you wanna use for fuck buddies?" He almost laughs, a slight smirk gracing his features. She blushes even more furiously. "Shut up. I don't know."

"I missed you." He sighs, eyes flicking over her pouting face like he can't get enough. There he goes with the sappy shit only she manages to force out of him with her dumb, cute face and dumb, adorable voice and stupid ass clothes. Fucking little shit.

Her sour face becomes such a bitterly sweet smile, he could melt. "I missed you too. And I demand reparations for the potential loss of experiences with you." 

"It was only a fucking month."

"You know how shitty that month was? Armin Arlert taught me how to play chess, Levi. I know how play chess now. You know how fucking bored and sad you have to be to learn chess? And think of all the stupid movies I could have shown you." She rubs her thumb over his and looks up at him through a veil of lashes. "Among other things."

He swallows, unable to keep himself from glancing at the time left until arrival. Twenty three minutes.

"Looks like I'm spending the weekend paying my dues." His voice is impossibly low, hardly more than a rumble. She presses her thighs together. He feels the subtle movement, eager to pull them apart within the hour.

............................

"You want something to-" Levi doesn't finish the sentence before she's sticking her tongue into his mouth, her body forcing his to the wall beside the door. Blindly, he reaches out and feels for his keys, pulling them out and slamming the door. 

He pulls away for breath. "You really want it that bad?" It's still a wonder to him, how a literal specimen of feminine beauty could crave him so desperately over anyone else. Not that he was self conscious, he could see himself as a sidefuck or one night stand, but to solely capture her affections and hold them for a month without any interaction? It made no sense. He felt so far below her league, it mind boggled him.

"You have no idea how often I have to fuck myself just to make it through class without a mess." She breathes hot air over his wet lips, eyes hooded and pupils blown wide. 

Her voice sends blood rushing to his dick. "Tell me what you think about?" He lifts her, they both drop their bags to the ground unceremoniously. 

She bites her lip to hide a smile. She'd almost forgotten how much he liked dirty talking. If her cheeks were red before, they were turning purple now. "I think about getting fucked over your desk. Sometimes if I think too much I have to go clean myself off in the bathroom. I get so wet." She breathes over his ear before running her teeth over the lobe and then down his neck.

He lays her back against his bed, immediately pulling his shirt off and tossing it to the side. "Go on."

She slips her shirt over her breasts, but not off. "I think about bouncing on your cock when we ride the train." Her hands run over her stomach as she flips her skirt up and rubs slow circles over her clit.

He swallows. Little fucking minx. She loves the deadpan expression, knowing he's struggling to maintain his facade. "But I mostly think about you punishing me. You know, I do something naughty and you put me in my place. Except it's not really punishment if I like it." 

He can't fucking take it anymore. She wanted him to be rough, he'd be rough. "Who the fuck told you to touch yourself?" 

She blinks. "Huh?"

He pulls her hands away from her pussy and pins them above her head. "You don't do anything unless I tell you. Understood?"

A fire lights behind her wide eyes, and she starts to say something but shuts her mouth. Good. She's already into it. 

He adjusts to pin her arms with one hand, letting the other slide to her tits. He kind of liked her like this, still clothed but exposed in all the places that mattered. He rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. "Safe word?" He whispers, licking his lips.

She smiles, "Yeager."

"Are you trying to make my dick soft?" He groans. 

"That's the point of a safe word." 

"Fine. Requests?"

"I want you to stop holding back on me. Do what you want." She plants a wet kiss on his shoulder. "I trust you."

He knows what he wants to do. He releases her hands. "Hands and knees." Eagerly, she does as she's told. He pushes her head down to the mattress so that her ass sticks out. When bent over, her skirt doesn't cover anything. He absently wonders if anyone else caught a glimpse of this accidentally.

With her pussy bared, he sits back on his knees behind her. Levi rubs a finger in a flat line over her wetness. She shivers at the vulnerability of her position. He slips two fingers in, just because he can, and gives a few pumps before withdrawing them. She doesn't make a noise, but he notices her walls clench as if to keep him inside. If that's what she wants, he'll give it to her.

His belt clinks and she smiles into his mattress. The broad head of his cock rubs over her entrance, down to her clit, and back up again. When he pushes in, its abrupt and to the hilt. She can't suppress the gasp that he forces from her lips. "Tell me how it feels." He commands, slamming into her near mercilessly. She moans and he brings his hand across her ass. For a moment, he regrets the angry red mark on her perfect skin, but he can feel her loosening up, making it easier to thrust. "S-so good." She whimpers, fingers clutching the sheets. 

He finds himself grinning at the view he has. Wanting her to enjoy this as much as possible, he reaches under her stomach to vibrate his index finger over her clit. She exhales, a struggled sound escaping with it. 

"Good girl. Let me hear you."

She moans in response, arching her back even further down. She looks like a fucking doll. He wants to see her better. Watch her face while he piledrives her. He pulls out and flips her onto her back, then pulls her knees over his shoulders. "Don't close your eyes. Look at me." He commands and she opens them halfway, hooded and teary. "What do you want, angel?" He can't help but cater to her.

"Fuck me. Hard. Please." She begs, pushing her hips up to meet his. He slides in, much easier than before but still feeling suctioned by her tightness. Her muscles contract and he grunts.

"Touch yourself." He instructs before building a steady rhythm. The headboard bangs against the wall and he prays to god his neighbor isn't home. She rubs herself for a moment before bracing her hand against Levi's chest. "Fuck." He breathes. They're sweaty now, both pink cheeked and warm to the touch. 

"Sir, I wanna-" she manages, cut off by her own moan.

"Not yet. Not until I say." He speaks, nearing his threshold as well. Regardless of his words, her pussy tightens and seems to twitch deep inside. 

"Le- vi-" she gasps. With no other warning, a warm wetness coats him, then runs down his thighs. 

Shit. 

Shit, shit, shit, shit. She's a squirter. He can't fucking hold himself off, not after that. He clenches his teeth and lifts her hips closer to him before driving in one more time. Levi lets go of her knees and drops his head to her chest before pulling out. "Shit. I didn't know you could do that."

"Me neither." She pants. "I've only seen it in porn."

"Me too." He kisses the tacky skin of her chest and looks up at her. "It was fucking hot."

"I didn't think you'd be into it, you like everything so... clean."

"But I like to fuck dirty." He grins. "Round two?"

"How the fuck are you hard again?"  
....................

They sit in the darkened living room, naked and carefree. Their legs curl together and they eat in silence. 

"Your tits look fucked up." He glances over at her as she shovels rice into her mouth and stares at the tv. She doesn't look at him. "Probably because you chewed on them like a fucking toddler."

He reaches over to run his fingers over one of the many bruises. "I like to leave marks."

"Yeah, I know. I saw my ass in the mirror after I took a shower."

He smirks. "You told me to do what I want, that's what I wanted."

She finally looks at him, grinning. "It's a fucking perfect hand print. Fingers and everything. Impeccable aim, sir."

"I played tennis. Great backswing." 

She snorts. "Do you wear the stupid outfit?"

"You mean uniform? Yeah." 

"I'd look cute in those little skirts." She yawns and leans into him. He envisions it and his mouth fucking waters. "I'll take you to play."

"I won't be good. My hand eye coordination is shit."

"Then you can stand there and be cute while I win. You should get used to balls flying at your face." 

"Fuck you, old man."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Per usual, please tell me your kinky shit, your desired emotional baggage, things you'd be interested in seeing, things you need clarification on, etc and I will try to work some things into the story for you in the future. Bless your soul for sticking around this long. And COMMENT it makes me feel so good.


	18. ?????????(x2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eren FUCKS THE FUCK UP

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to folks for suggesting some bULLSHIT discourse. Honestly, I'm kind of losing my steam for this story because I can't think of anything but fluff and advanced-level-angst that I don't really wanna deal with, so the updates may start coming a little slower HOWEVER I WILL BE POSTING A FEW NEW PROJECTS IN THE COMING WEEKS THAT YOU SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR!! As always, comment some things you'd like to see or general ideas because ya bitch is running dry.
> 
> Warning: I never edit any fucking thing sorry for mistakes but I just don't give a fuck

"Shut the fuck up and put it in your mouth." 

"It's too big."

"You've had bigger in there."

"Are you calling me a slut?" She narrows her eyes and closes her mouth around the last of her churro.

"Tch." He pushes her head to the side playfully and then pulls her by her neck to his chest. 

The sun was setting on the boardwalk, booths now glittering with reflection from the waves and neon signs all around. They'd driven to New Jersey for the day. It was nice to spend time together in public without the paranoia of being found out.

"Hey!" Her arm jerks towards a photo booth, mouth and chin covered in sugar crystals. He frowns. "That things probably filthy inside."

"Come on, please?" She begs with fluttering eyelashes. Begrudgingly he allows himself to be pulled inside. She stuffs the oversized bear he'd expertly won at a ring toss to the side and makes room for him. He feeds a few dollars into the machine, muttering about having to touch the filthy buttons.

"Do a stupid face." She commands, crinkling her nose and eyes up as much as she can. He just grimaces. The flash goes off.

"Now smile." She throws her arms over his neck and grins in her silly, overly exuberant way. He looks at her, mouth quirking into a crooked smile against his will. He can feel her hands behind his head, probably giving him bunny ears or devil's horns. She's just too fucking cute. The flash blinds them again.

She presses her lips to his for the next picture, meaning for it just to be a peck, but he slips his tongue between them feverishly. All thoughts of the camera slip from her mind and she melts into him, putty in his hands as he moves his mouth over her neck. The flash goes off once more.

He pulls away, eventually, visibly satisfied. "Think that transfers to film?"

"Asshole." She fights a smile, face hot and eyes hooded. 

When they crawl out of the booth, she rushes to grab the strips of pictures before him. "Jerk, I told you to make a funny face!" She pouts. He steals them from her hands. "These are good." He pockets one of the strips and puts the other back into her hands. "Lets start driving back, it's getting late."

She falls asleep in the car, a bit of cotton candy stuck in her hair and remnants of a churro over her face. Fucking messy brat. He reaches over to stroke her hair when they make it back to city.

"Yours or mine?" He asks softly. 

"Yours." She yawns, stretching her back against the seat. Her breath fogs the icy window.

........................

"You know it's been two months and you still haven't told us anything about your boyfriend."

"Yeah." Rori blows the steam from her coffee and takes a sip. Annie blinks a few times, expectant. "You're really just gonna keep him a secret forever? If you didn't have all those fucking hickeys I'd think he was fake."

"If I say he's fake will you hop off my dick?" 

"No." Annie and Armin say in unison. Rori sighs. "He's just really... low profile, you know?"

"I still maintain he's gotta be a creep with a Lolita-complex for dating you, but whatever." Annie packs a bowl and lights up. 

"Says the daddy kink duo." Rori fires back and Armin's face goes red. Annie just laughs.

"Can you stop bringing that up all the time?" 

"No. It's my only defense."

"You're telling me you've never wanted to call him that?" She teases. "Not even when he's rawing you from behi-"

"Annie!" Armin cries. "Stop!"

Rori snatches the pipe from her and takes a long hit. "It just seems creepy, you know? You don't think about your actual dad?"

"No. It's an authority thing. When you have shitty dads like ours, you end up craving someone with control. It makes you feel safe and kinda like there's nobody else that can fulfill that role. It's got nothing to do with dad-fucking." Annie speaks languidly, placing her hand over Armin's. "At least for me. Some people are into nasty shit." 

Rori hums in understanding, mulling it over in her mind. She'd initially psyched herself out of the phrase, but it's not like she called her father 'daddy' in the first place. Hell, she'd been calling him Richard since she was eight. "I can see it now. But I think it would freak him out if I just busted that out randomly." 

"You never know. I called Armin daddy by accident mid-fuck and he busted a nut." 

"Annie!"

Rori's snort of laughter is interrupted by a knock on the door. "Fuck, hold on!" She shouts, struggling to get up. She runs with bare feet on the floor and doesn't bother looking through the peep hole before swinging it open. Eren rushes in, nose pink with the cold. "It's fucking freezing! Damn, you guys smoking already?" He sniffs the air as he unwraps his scarf and peels off his jacket. 

"Yeah, sorry. Armin has another gram though. And I have beer." She closes and locks the door. 

"Can I crash here if I get wasted?" He follows her to the den. His smile falters when she turns her head, a line of purple marks over the side of her throat. 

"Yeah, of course." She drops back onto the rug, warming her feet in front of the fire. 

They smoke another bowl before Rori starts making drinks. Armin decides they need to watch some French film none of the others had heard of, and spends the first fifteen minutes explaining some complex subplot before Annie starts sucking his face. Eren and Rori ignore it uncomfortably before they decide to just leave them to it and opt for the tv in her bedroom. 

"They're always fucking, I swear." Eren grumbles, wrapping a blanket over his shoulders. Rori drops herself onto the bed and tosses the remote into his lap. "Yeah." She gets a little lost for words when she's crossfaded. 

"You alright?" He quirks an eyebrow at her. 

"Yeah. I think... I think I need a shower. You?" She yawns, arching her back from the mattress. 

"Uh, like, uh, with... you?" He squeaks the last word, cheeks burning. 

She blinks. "Wait, what the fuck? No, just use the guest one." 

"Oh, shit, yeah sorry. Sorry. I'm really drunk." He rubs the back of his neck. "I'll just... wait here."

"Yeah." She stumbles to her feet and pulls pajamas from her drawers. Eren sits in silence for a moment after she leaves, mentally slapping the shit out of himself for being an asshole. 

He leans on the bed for support as he stabilizes himself. When he hears the pipes squeak and is sure she's in the bathroom, he gingerly makes his way to her dresser. He examines the only framed photo in the house, assuming the beautiful woman is her mother by the freckled skin and familiarly curly hair. He sets it back down carefully. Impulsively he opens the top drawer, drunkenly rifling through her socks and underwear. It was kind of cute that the majority of her collection was plain granny panties and ones with little cats in mittens and shit. There were only a few pairs of lace ones. His hands brush past something near the back. It's flat, he has to peel it up with his fingernails. A picture strip. 

Eren loses his balance, doubling over the desk as bile rises in his stomach. Fucking Ackerman. Levi Ackerman. The shower squeaks off and he rushes to shove the pictures back in her drawer, glancing one last time at the last image. Her neck bent back with his mouth against it, the same spot she now had bruises. He feels sick. 

"Rori, I gotta go!" He shouts through the bathroom door. She clicks it open almost immediately, hair wrapped in a towel. "What? Where are you going? You can't drive." 

"I-I'm not that fucked up, I can make it home." 

She furrows her brow in concern, pressing her hands against his cheek and forehead. He flinched away. "Eren, you look sick. You need to stay in the guest room."

His body betrays him, tears springing in his eyes. "I just... wanna go." Rori's mouth gapes and she blinks a few times before she can react. 

"Come here, are you okay?" She pulls him by the hand into her room. He follows like a child, sniffling. "I think I'm gonna throw up." 

"Shit, hold on." She rushes to grab her trash can and hold it near his face as he collapses to the bed. Almost immediately he buries his head in it and let's loose a stream of vomit. She wrinkles her nose but holds tight, wrapping her arm around his back to pat it soothingly.

He whimpers and pulls away from the trash can. "Mouth wash." His eyes are glassy with tears.

"Come on, honey." She tries to pull him up, carefully balancing the trash can in the other hand. He leans on her much shorter shoulder and they stumble to the bathroom. He folds into the counter and splashes his face with water. She pours a capful of mouthwash and hands it to him. He gargles a moment before spitting and sliding to the floor. 

"No, Eren, you can't sleep here. Come on. Come on, sweetie." She tugs him up, ignoring his protesting groans. 

She can't drag him to a guest room, so she decides to let him just share her bed. There can't be any harm in it when he's this trashed. 

After tucking him in, she goes to emoty the vomit from the trash can, announcing her presence to Armin and Annie twenty feet from the living room so she doesn't walk into something she doesn't want to see. After thoroughly cleaning her hands, she returns to her room with a glass of water and ibuprofen. 

"Take this." She commands, shaking Eren awake. He opens his mouth begrudgingly and swallows them with a sip of water. She turns off the light and slips under the blanket, closing her heavy eyes. Then Eren sniffs. And sniffs again. 

"Are you still crying?" She sits up, squinting her eyes in the darkness as if it'll help her see. He doesn't answer but the bed shakes slightly. She's beyond uncomfortable but wraps her arms over his wide shoulders and holds his head to her chest. "What the hell is up with you? What's wrong?"

"I-I-I... just want to... protect you... and I can't... and it- it hurts. So much, Rori. I just... wanna be with-" he sobs brokenly, his arms squeezing her waist. His tears wet her t-shirt, she finds herself tearing up a bit. 

"Eren, we talked about this, remember? I care about you a lot. Just in a different way. It's not any less, it's just different." She scratches his scalp through his long hair. 

"I know." His breath hitches a few times as he tries to calm himself. His fingers splay over her back experimentally. He nuzzles his head into her chest and she feels his hips shift closer. 

"Eren..." she warns.

"Sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry." He detaches himself and struggles to sit up. "I'm sorry." He repeats, wiping his face clean. "I-I don't know what the fucks wrong with me. I don't know what to do. I know it's not your problem but everything fucking hurts. All the time. A-and to think of you with..." swallows hard, a lump of disgust blocking his throat. 

"Another guy? You're right, Eren. It's not my problem. I'm trying to be as considerate as I can, but you're making it really hard to be your friend. I can't give you romantic love, and if you can't accept what I can give you, you don't deserve me at all. I don't owe you shit, alright? This isn't about who I'm with, it's about you not being able to take no for an answer because no ones ever said it to you in your life. It's not my problem." 

He blinks, tears streaming down his cheeks unbridled. She grits her teeth and stares him down. Silently, he stands and walks off. She hears a door slam down the hall and takes a breath. A hand knocks on the hollow doorframe.

"Hey, uh... we heard you yelling. What's going on?" Armin speaks hesitantly. His hair is down from its usual bun and Annie is wearing his shirt and just her underwear beneath it. 

Rora sucks her teeth and turns the lamp on. "Nothing. Eren's drunk."

"Did... did he... try something on you?" 

"No. Yeah. Sort of, I don't know. I just... I wanna go to bed." She rubs her hands over her eyes and hugs herself. 

Annie sits on the edge of the mattress and looks her over in concern. "Rori, what happened?" Her voice is more forceful than Annie's.

"He... I think he thought he had a chance with me? I don't know. He started crying and touching me. It's fine, I told him off. He's just drunk. We'll talk about it tomorrow." She groans and squeezes her eyes shut.

"You're sure you're okay? Do you want me to take him home?" Armin shifts and fidgets with his hands. He looks at Annie as if trying to relay something nonverbally.

"It's fine. He's fine. I just- I just wanna sleep." Rori shouts but then corrects herself, and turns the lamp back off. 

"Why don't I sleep in here." Annie offers, crawling further up the mattress. Rori yawns in response. "Thanks." 

"C'mon babe." Annie holds her arm out for her boyfriend and they all squeeze together on the mattress. Annie rubs soothing circles on Rori's back until the smaller girl's breathing is steady and shallow.


	19. ???????????????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a cute little something something before the some heavy shit. Thank you everyone that continues to comment! It's so uplifting I love every single one of you, even if you're consuming this absolute TRASH HEAP.

Rori glances at the clock, angry red numbers telling her to go back to sleep. But she can't. 

The night's events come back in a flurry, her hands itch in discomfort. Maybe if she hadn't been drunk, she wouldn't have lashed out at him. Maybe if they weren't drunk, he wouldn't have tried anything.

No. She wasn't going to make excuses for him. Every word she said was exactly what he needed to hear, it wasn't her job to coddle and buffer his ego. He knew better, even under the influence. Alcohol didn't excuse it, in fact it often revealed one's truest self. If that was the case, Eren felt entitled to her and that was a fucking problem.

She untangles herself from Annie's arms and walks down the whole, opening two of the guest rooms to find them empty. The third one looks like it had been slept in, sheets tousled and blanket on the ground. But it's empty as well.

She searches the entire house, including the balcony and the porch. His truck is gone. He couldn't have left sober, she'd only been asleep for a few hours since the fight. That was one of her primary rules, no driving fucked up. 

Rori packs clothes and toiletries into a bag. "Annie. Annie." She whispers, patting her friends arm away. The blonde bats her hand away grumpily. "Annie." She tries again, this time slapping her ass with a cupped hand.

"Ow, what the fuck?" She shoots up, waking Armin in the process. 

"You still have my spare key, right? Can you lock up behind you?"

"Uh... yeah." Her voice crackles with sleep and she yawns. "Where are you going?"

She catches herself almost saying his name. "Boyfriend's. You guys can stay here as long as you want if you promise not to fuck in my bed."

"How about the guest room?" 

"Whatever."

"The kitchen?" 

"Don't push it." Rora pats her head and slips into her shoes. 

"Tell your daddy I said hi!" Annie screams after her. The air is cold and bitter, she pulls her scarf over her nose and mouth to keep warm. 

Her fingers stutter out a quick text alerting Levi of her arrival as she climbs the front steps and slips into the elevator. He confirms that he's home, though she would've just waited outside his apartment until he showed up otherwise. 

Her hand is so numb she can't feel it knocking against the door. She bounces on her heels, trying to work some of the warmth from the air into her bones. The door swings open. "How'd you get here so-"

She smashes her mouth over his, kicking the door with her foot to close it. He hums amusedly into her lips and nips the bottom one playfully. "Good morning." 

She doesn't reply, just unzips her jacket and latches her mouth to his neck. He can sense there's something off. "Slow down. Are you okay?" He gently pushes and holds her at a length that's disconnected but still intimate.

She presses her lips together and blinks a few times. Shit. Shit, she's gonna cry. "What's wrong? Nightmares again? Your dad?What?" 

She sucks on her teeth and pulls away, going to sit on the sofa. He follows hesitantly and sits beside her. She hangs her head. "Eren slept over last night."

His stomach drops. His heart beat becomes a heavy thud and fear strikes him to his core. This feeling is too fucking familiar. "Are you... did you..." 

"No." She dispels his fear and looks up, obviously remorseful for making him think for a second that she cheated. "But he tried."

"What do you mean? Did he try to force you to-" his voice rises with fury, ready to rip the life from that little fucking pest. 

"He was drunk. He kept saying stupid shit and crying so I hugged him and he just..." she trailed off. "I told him off and he went to another room. Armin and Annie were there too, they slept in my bed just in case but when I woke up to check on him he was gone. I don't know what to do. I know I shouldn't feel bad, but I-" she sniffs and he pulls her in by her neck. 

"You're right, you shouldn't feel guilty. It's not your fault he's a fucking prick." He murmurs. The rumble of his chest is comforting. Strong fingers rub her back soothingly and she lets out a sigh of relief. He never fails to make her feel safe. "You still wanna fuck?"

"Maybe after breakfast." She hums.

"So you want me to cook, then?" 

She blinks up at him from beneath heavy lashes, dimples set deep beside a glowing grin. "Yes, please." His heart swells a million times it's size. He almost smiles. "You ever get tired of being such a little shit?" He means to say 'I love you', but his mind doesn't cooperate with his mouth. She still looks at him like the sun shines out of his ass. "Never."

She hops to her feet and races off to the kitchen, kicking off her shoes as she runs. Grunting in distaste, he neatly arranges them on rack beside the door. What a fucking beast.

"Armin and Annie have been fucking everywhere. They're still at my house, probably banging away in my bed." Her voice is muffled with her head shoved into the fridge. Levi leans against the counter, admiring her profile.

"And you let them?"

She pulls out some ingredients. "I don't really mind until they get weird about it."

"Weird how?"

"Like, kinky. And sometimes they let it slip into normal conversation."

"How kinky can high schoolers be?" He scoffs, firing up the stove tops. 

"You forget, old man, we have access to everything under the sun now. We don't get all titilated by our dads playboy magazines or whatever you jacked off to back in the day." She teases and he slaps her ass with a spatula. "Watch it." 

"I guess they're both into daddy kink." She continues. It's obvious she's trying to seem unaffected.

He blinks a few times before replying, equally nonchalant. "Isn't everybody? That's like Freud's whole schtick." 

Her heart does a little somersault in place and she can't help the goofy smile that spreads on her face. "I thought you were touchy about our age gap."

"Yeah, spilled milk. Not like it's gonna go away." He spreads butter in the pan while she cracks an egg into a bowl of flour.

"So... you're into it?" 

"Are you?"

"You can't answer my question with a question."

He clenches and unclenches his jaw, like he's been backed into a verbal corner. This feels like some sort of weird test of character. He has to remind himself she isn't manipulative, like Petra. She's Rori. Kind, honest, and most importantly open Rori. He'll be open to. "I'm not opposed. Can't knock it until you try it, right?"

"Right." She finds herself a little more excited at the prospect than anticipated, her cheeks rosy and smile wide. 

"The fuck are you so happy about? Was that whole thing a proposition?" He narrows is eyes while she pours batter into the pan.

"No, Armin and Annie really are into it. I thought it was weird." She confirms. "But they pled their case and it... intrigued me. Once I got past the initial creepiness."

"Mm." He nods, nonverbally asking for more elaboration.

"And I just... I don't know." Her blush gets a little deeper and she reverts to the bashful state he was seeing less and less of the more comfortable she got in his company. "You know I like when you're... in control. And this is kinda the ultimate control aside from like, BDSM."

Levi's mouth twitches into a smirk. "I think you could like that too. The softer stuff of course."

"I don't know I ventured into punishtube once and-"

"How much porn do you watch, brat?" 

"Uh... I don't have a relative frame of reference but I assume... a lot."

He scoffs and shimmies his arm before jerking his wrist, making the pancake jump and land back in the pan. Of course. Of course he can flip a pancake. There isn't anything he's bad at, she swears. "You know that shit can be really bad for your sexual development."

"What else do you suggest for my unrelenting libido." She jokes and stands up on her tiptoes to reach the plates. 

"How about some imagination? I'm not spank bank material?" 

"You're the biggest share holder at my spank bank." She offers cutely, pecking his cheek before setting the table. "You're telling me you just sit there and like... imagine shit to get off?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"That seems exhausting." She folds her legs into a criss cross on the chair.

"I'm not a fan of watching other dude's balls slap some poor chick's ass." He walks the pan to her and drops the pancake on her plate. "Have you ever seen a scrotum? It's fucking disgusting."

"It's like... the paper you crumple up and put in gift bags." She laughs. "But I think yours is alright." 

"I'm glad you find my fucking ball sac aesthetically pleasing. It's been in your mouth at least a dozen times, I'd hate to think you don't enjoy it." 

"See? I wouldn't know anything about knob slobbing without porn!" Her mouth is full of pancake. He shrivels his nose in disgust. "Don't call it that."

"Chode roping? Throwing neck? Tonsil massage? Throttling the rooster? Chicken choking? Hummer?" She fires off as many obscure inuendos she can find in the recesses of her mind until he places a hand over her mouth.

"I'd shut you up with my dick if you didn't kill my fucking boner." 

"You don't like my diverse vocabulary?" 

"My dick is inverted." He neatly cuts his pancakes while she shovels her mouth full, syrup coating her lips. "Cochon malpropre (dirty pig)."

"Vieil homme ennuyeux (boring old man)." She fires back after swallowing and sticks her tongue out.  
.......................

"It's so slippery!"

"Just calm down and move your hips."

"You just said to hold my balance!"

"You can move your hips while keeping balance, dumb ass. Like this." 

"I swear to god, Levi, if you tickle me I'm gonna kill you." She grasps his arms for dear life as he tries to guide her across the rink. A group of small children skates past at twice their speed. 

"I'm not gonna tickle you. Or let you go." He holds tight, moving with a little more purpose now. "Move your legs. No, idiot, like this."

"I am!" Her breath comes out in an icy cloud and her teeth chatter when she closes her mouth. "I can't believe you're a teacher, we've been here for thirty minutes."

"It's not my fault you have the coordination of a toddler." He grunts. "I'm a hands-on-teacher anyways." 

"Badum-tss."

"Shut the fuck up, Rori." He spins her around suddenly. Her legs slide clumsily out from under her body and she grabs his shoulders in panic. The shocking weight throws him forward and they slide against the wall of the rink. 

In a pile of limbs, Rori snorts in laughter while Levi stews above her. "You're a fucking disaster, you know that? How have you kept yourself alive this long?" He easily finds his balance and helps her up with sturdy arms.

"Uh, steering clear of shoes with blades and slippery surfaces?" She slides gloved fingers in his and lets herself be dragged along. 

"I thought it'd cheer you up." He grimaces. 

She stops him with a kiss to his cheek. "Falling on my ass with you is a pretty solid step up from last night. Thank you."

Shit. Fucking... god damn it. He's blushing. He can feel it, then burning prickle of his cheeks and neck hair when he looks at her stupid, idiotic, unbearable god damn smile. She doesn't register the pink of his cheeks as anything but frostbite. "I'm in love with you." He blurts.

Time slows. Even in a crowded place, the silence is unbearable. But that smile... that fucking smile doesn't leave her face for a second. It's got a knowing edge, some kind of upper hand hidden in the corners of her mouth, some sort of power he can't escape from. "Je t'aime. De tout mon cœur (with all my heart)."

It's inhuman, he's sure, the rate his heart is beating at. There is nothing in the world that has ever given him the same joy as this peachy cheeked, bright-eyed, glowing girl could with a few softly spoken words. 

"Wipe that shit eating grin off your face." He mutters, thoroughly embarrassed now. God he hates what his mouth comes up with when his brain is preoccupied. He wants nothing but sweet words to fill those precious ears from here on out. But he guesses she must not mind what a shitty boyfriend he is. She likes him, even loves him, foul language and piss-poor attitude and all. 

She giggles and tugs his hand gently to the rink's exit. "Let's go home. We have school tomorrow."


	20. ??????????(x2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I did a real quick, shitty sketch of Rori on a tablet I borrowed from my girlfriend so. Here: https://tmblr.co/ZqgzHd2ODf2F7
> 
> It's my weird art sideblog, my main one is in my bio. ANYWAYS ENJOY

Eren doesn’t come to school the next day. The empty seat burns into the back of Rori’s mind all through homeroom, an unwelcome sensation of queasiness clouding her mind. She shouldn’t feel guilty. She knows that. But she misses him, as big of a dick as he’s being. At lunch, she pretends to be thoroughly invested in Jean and Marco’s account of a drunken weekend in Soho, but she feels the burn of Mikasa’s eyes on her. She must know they’re fighting. Even if Eren didn’t tell her, she’s incredibly intuitive, it’s like she can smell discourse. Annie looks sympathetic when Rori excuses herself to ‘go to the library’.

She figures she may as well drop in on Levi and try to lighten her mood before seeing Mr. Smith. That dude was always weirdly invasive when she seemed in poor spirits. His classroom door is locked, which either means he’s in a pissy mood or at a lunch meeting which in turn would lead to a pissy mood. She shoots him a text before wandering to the front office. The secretary hadn’t gone to take her lunch yet, so Rori’s usual spot at the front desk was currently occupied. She knocks on Mr. Smith’s door and waits for a muffled greeting before walking in. 

“Ah, Rori. Skipping class?” He looks over his glasses at her, fingers typing away at the keyboard without looking. 

“I have lunch.” She offers a half smile. “Mind if I sit in here?”

“Of course not. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. I’m not really in a social mood.” 

He searches her features for something before returning his eyes to the computer screen. “I suppose I can understand that.” 

She sits herself in the chair in front of his desk and pulls out her physics homework, taking to chewing her pen cap while thinking. He can’t help but glance over at her every few minutes or so. The strain on her features when she concentrates is endearing. “Do you need any help?” He asks after finishing his e-mail. He leans over the desk to get a look at the assignment.

“Do you understand electrostatics?” She asks skeptically.

“I taught AP physics before I was vice principal. Let’s see. You’re correct, m is replaced by q but g is replaced by E. W=mg is replaced by F=qE. The second formula describes the force on a charged particle in uniform electric field.” His finger traces over the paper, directing her eyes. 

She crinkles her nose. “Okay, so what is the vacuum permittivity?”

“It’s the capability of the vacuum to permit electric field lines.” Jesus christ, he’s like a human encyclopedia. She scribbles down the answer and reads the next question. A chunky curl falls over her face. Erwin’s finger twitches up before retracting, then up again. He tucks it behind her ear.  
Her pencil stops in place.

He’s made a mistake, he can feel it. She blinks up, questioning. “It was in your eyes.” He shifts away, awkwardly. 

“Uh, thanks.” She pushes her eyebrows together before looking back down at her paper, dismissing the action as an uncomfortable boundary breech while Erwin curses the palpable tensity he’s created. He busies himself on his computer again, though he doesn’t really have much to do. 

She check’s her phone when it buzzes. She’d changed Levi’s contact name to something a little more fitting.

‘Went to grab lunch with shitty glasses. You need something?’

Rori types a quick reply, dismissing her previous inquiry as being bored and tells him she’ll see him in class. She ignores the Snapchat notification from Annie and hovers her fingers over Eren’s contact. The last text she’d received was him announcing his arrival the night he’d come over. What would she even say? She wasn’t going to apologize, that’s for fucking sure. Ask to talk? About what? There’s nothing to say that hadn’t been said. She was just going to have to wait and see if he tried to reason with her again or beg for forgiveness. Maybe this wasn’t salvageable. Not like she would know, everything she knew about friendship was from movies and passive observation. This was uncharted territory.

“Aurora?” 

She nods out of her thoughts and meets Erwin’s eyes. “Hmm?”

“Are you alright?”

Shit. Was she? “Yeah, of course. Why?”

Erwin lifts an eyebrow. “You were… staring.”

“Sorry.” She feels her cheeks prickle with warmth and shrinks into her chair a little. His heart jumps at the sight. “I’m tired.”

“It’s alright.” He fails to hide the smile that tugs at his mouth and pushes his glasses up. “Why don’t you rest a bit before your next class?”

“A power nap sounds pretty solid.” she agrees and slips out of her jacket, balling it up to use as a buffer between her head and the desk.   
……………………………………….

When she hands her paper in, she makes a point to slide her fingers over Levi’s. His mouth twitches, glaring up at her from dark under-eye bags. Rori smiles cutely but he ignores it and he reads over the paper, marking things occasionally. “C'est stupide, répare ça (This is stupid, fix it).” He underlines a poorly worded sentence. Pouting, she leans even further over his desk to look at it. “Right there? There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“You can do better.” He asserts. The surprising tickle of fingertips over the back of her thigh makes her jolt a little, but she recovers quickly enough to be inconspicuous. She presses her lips together and takes her seat, immediately glancing up to meet his eyes again. This time he really does smile. Well, sort of. In his barely-there side-smirk way.

When the bell rings, she loiters as usual, slowly packing her things and checking her phone knowing full well no one had texted her but Annie. “We going straight home?” She asks once the classroom is empty.

“I have a thing tonight, actually.” He says, somewhat regretfully. “Shitty glasses roped me into a night out. Couldn't come up with an excuse fast enough.” 

“I’ve got a ton of homework anyways.” Her voice is warbled by a little yawn, still oddly worn out. “Can I sleep at your place though? Be there when you come home?” 

He stands in front of her desk, bag in hand. “Can’t say no to that.” The calloused tip of his thumb traces a tender line over her jaw. She closes her eyes and revels in the comfort before getting up.

“I’m gonna eat all your snacks.” She skips beside him, consciously making the effort to keep from touching him as they emerge into the underpopulated halls.

“Fucking gremlin. Keep it at the table or I’ll kill you.” 

“You sure you don't want cookie crumbs in your bed?” She jokes as they pass the gate. Wearily she glances around to make sure there aren't any familiar faces.

“Don't even joke about that shit.” He mutters in disgust, bumping her thigh with his computer bag. 

Unfortunately, catching the train early meant sharing it with a few other students from school. It was lucky that Armin had a track meet that Annie was watching, she couldn't bear having to pretend not to know Levi another minute today. Now they sat with a visible space between them, but at least they could talk. In French, of course. A light drizzle starts as they walk to the parking lot, but they have to wait for a few groups of students to disappear before getting in the car. She really couldn't wait until graduation. Not having to pretend anymore would be a dream. 

Levi gets ready for his night out with Hange while she immerses herself in rhetorical literary analysis, practically swimming in one of his shirts and a pair of shorts she’d left over. “You need anything while I’m out?” He pulls a denim jacket over his outfit. 

“Extra large condoms for my magnum dong.” She speaks without looking from her paper. He simultaneously hates the way she spreads out over his bed, belly down and feet on the pillows. 

“Anyfuckingways.” Levi ignores the reference and presses a kiss to the top of her head. “I’ll probably be shitfaced when I get home. Don't stay up too late.”

“Yeah, whatever, daddy.” She teases. He pulls a loc of hair playfully. “Don't tempt me to stay home, brat.” 

“Go get drunk and do… whatever Nurse Zoë does with their free time.” 

“Play stupid, filthy arcade games and get too trashed to call themselves an Uber? Wild times.”

“Have fun, I love you.” “Yeah, yeah.” The clinking of his keys gets further away and the door shuts behind him. 

She finishes homework faster than anticipated, leaving a few hours of free time before she should put herself to bed. After a few episodes of Voltron, the ominous rumble of hunger in her stomach starts to sound like an echo of the thundering storm outside. While she would be happy to cook, she didn’t really feel like cleaning up. Regardless of how well she tidied, Levi always seemed to find something to nitpick and redo. Making a mess in his apartment was a death sentence. Pizza sounds better anyways.

When she unlocks her phone, the banner notification alerts her of a message. From Eren. 

‘Are you at Annie’s?’

She hesitates. He’d sent it five minutes ago. Should she answer or wait? The need to resolve this somehow is overpowering. ‘No. Why?’

The text bubble signifies him typing a response immediately. It seems like a long time, but he only replies ‘I’m outside your house’ followed quickly by ‘Are you with him?’. Rori’s fingers ghost over the keyboard. ‘Yes.’

‘I wanna talk.’

‘So talk.’

‘Face to face. Can you meet me?’

Fuck. ‘Now?’

‘Ya. That pie shop.’

‘Fine. Half an hour. That’s it.’  
She slips into pants and grabs an umbrella from beside the door, setting out into the evening to brace chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started editing but I got bored so. It might be shitty. wHo ThE fuCk KnoWs, not me. Anyways, thank you to all the sweethearts that keep commenting and slamming that sweet, sweet kudos button. It makes me nut every time. PLEASE!! If you have any ideas, preferences, or questions, feel free to share them with me. I'm all for active input. Anyways, enjoy.


	21. ?????????????????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I write this while I was supposed to be studying for my math final exam. So that's where I'm at on the procrastination scale, but I'm spending tomorrow with my girlfriend after I go up to the college and take my test, so I knew I wouldn't get this up any other time this week. Here goes the angst roller coaster, babies. Fasten yourselves in and COMMENT PLEASE AND CONSIDER IT YOUR PAYMENT FOR DISTRACTING ME FROM MY EDUCATION

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually edited this for once lol. Get ready for a shitstorm my boys.

She sits in a booth, soaked hair matted to her head. The umbrella hadn't done much to keep her from onslaught of rain, as it decided to spray sideways with the wind.  
Once again, Rori superbly underestimated New York weather. 

With balled fists and an untouched coffee cup before her, she rehearses a hypothetical confrontation in her head a few times, sometimes mouthing the words as if Eren sat before her. Luckily she was hidden from the person manning the pie counter or this could be humiliating. Thankfully, the store all but guaranteed the shop would remain empty.

When the bell above the door rang, everything she'd planned to say went up on smoke, brain frying like an egg. Eren stood, ghost-like and pathetic, dark hood drawn up and eyes rimmed with pink. If not for the rain she’d think he was crying. When he walked to her seat, it was slow and tired, like something was weighing his body down. He dropped into the booth across from her, hands in his pockets.

She expects him to speak first. When he doesn't, she pushes her coffee towards him in offering. “You gonna say something?”

He looks down at the cup rather than meeting her eyes. A minute passes in complete silence, save the angry hiss of rain pelting the pavement. When he finally looks up, his eyes are big and searching, sliding over her features like he's trying to remember every little thing. He's afraid to forget. “You know that I want what's best for you?”

Of course. Of course he'd start with some self righteous claim of undying affection. As if it’s all not meant to serve his own desires. “You don't know what's best for me.” She scoffs.

“Maybe not, but I know he isn’t.” He seethes back, slamming a closed fist on the table. Tears spill from his glossy lashes, tanned cheeks heating with confrontation. 

“You don't even know who he is, you just want-” 

“But I do.” He says so morbidly, she can feel bile rising in her throat. Everything goes pale, clammy. She swallows. “What?” It’s a broken, unbelieving sound. 

“I know. I know everything.” His nostrils flare and he pulls his other hand from his pocket. He puts it on the table, letting something fall from his grip. A crumpled strip of vinyl, curling and distorting with water-wear and rough handling.

No.

No. No. No. No.

“Where did you get that? Did you steal this? What were you- how could-?” She stutters, face pulled into a mask of utter horror. Her heart is ice cold.

“It doesn't matter.”

“Of course it matters!” She shouts, scrambling to grab for the pictures. He snatches them away and holds them close to his chest. “Please give them to me.”

“I can't.” He shakes his head. “This is wrong. It’s… disgusting. He’s taking advantage of you.”

“Eren, you don't understand, he loves me.” She pleads, eyes welling with tears. 

“He doesn't love you, I love you. He’s using you. You think you’re the first student he’s been with? You think you’re the only one?” His tone is cruel, biting. They’ve attracted the attention of the counter employee, some college-age dude who is now awkwardly lingering, not sure if he should give the pair some privacy. 

“I do.” She nods. “Because I asked for this. All of it. He didn't do anything I didn't beg for.”

He doesn't believe her, but it still hurts. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I wanted him. I still want him.”

“You love him?”

“Yes.” It’s the only answer. No question or uncertainty in her tone. He hates that fire burning behind the glass sheen of tears, the way her jaw quivers and the furrow of her eyebrows. He aches to see her smile.

“I have to tell someone. This is sick.”

“It won't make me be with you.” She states matter-of-factly, wiping her sniffling nose. “I’ll hate you forever.”

“As long as you’re safe from him, I don't care. Did you think about what he could do if you decided to leave him? He could ruin you. Your grades, your reputation; and what about when you graduate. You think he's still gonna wanna be with you when you aren't jailbait? That's all this is. Some creepy old asshole getting his kicks manipulating younger girls.” 

“He wouldn't do that. You don't know him, Eren.”

“And you do? You’ve been here for a few months. How can you say you love him? Didn't you tell me it doesn't happen like that? That it takes time? Why do you get to decide what real love is?” His voice crackles with strain, pathetically wiping his face with already wet sleeves.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, I shouldn't have said that. If you say you love me, then you love me. So please-” she reaches across the table for his arm. “Please don't do this, Eren. I’m begging. Please. I’m legally consenting, but he could still lose his job. My father would move me away, maybe make me drop out of school. It would ruin both our lives.” 

“You should've thought of that before.” He grimaces. 

Her heart sinks. She can't think of a way out. She panics. “If I break it off, will you keep it a secret? I’ll drop his class. I’ll spend more time with you.”

Eren looks up, eyes slanted in suspicion. “You’d do that?”

“I’d do anything to protect him. Please. Please, don't tell anyone.” Her hold on his arm tightens. “Give me the pictures and we can forget it all.”

“No, I’m gonna keep them. Just in case.” 

“Please, give them to me. Eren, you can trust me. Please.”

He can’t stand it anymore. She looks so broken. Afraid. The guilt is unbearable, outweighing his anger by metric tons. His hand creeps across the table. When his palm opens, she grabs the pictures away and looks them over with bleary eyes. “I gotta go.”

“Back to his place?”

“What, you expect me not to say goodbye?” She snaps. He recoils, the weight of his mistake suddenly settling in. No matter what he does, she will never love him again. He should've taken what she’d given him before. He shouldn't have been greedy for her affections.

“You told me where the spare key was. The one behind the plant.” 

“Huh?”

“That's how I got the picture. I broke into your house. I saw them last weekend, while you were in the shower. I was snooping through your drawers and I found it. That's why I was crying.” He explains, bowing his head and folding his body inward. Eren can't meet her eyes. “I stayed home because I couldn't sleep. Couldn't stop thinking about it. I didn't plan on stealing them, but you weren't home. So I went in. I'm sorry.” 

She sniffs again. “I’m sorry I yelled at you on Saturday. But I'm tired of this.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Are you?” Her tone is tired, but the question has a bitter, cold edge. She’s a sheathed knife. He knows she's dangerous, but he isn't afraid. Just weary. 

“I am. I’m really sorry. I wish I didn't find out. It makes me sick to think-” his jaw clicks shut, quieting the thought before it's finished. 

“I wish you trusted me to make my own decisions. No one gets what they want.” She stands, umbrella in hand and pictures clutched in the other. The cashier pretends not to have heard the explosive argument, but is far to visibly uncomfortable to play it off. Rori walks back into the storm, Eren can see her through the window. She doesn't open her umbrella up. Just walks through the unrelenting rain and disappears around the corner. He feels like it’s the end.


	22. ??????????????????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm SOrry this is so short, but I'm shitfaced and wanna just get something down for you while I can. My girlfriend and I are starting college next week so I've been really fucked up with anxiety, which means I've been doing... absolutely nothing productive. BUT I'm inspired right now because I finally figured out what's going to happen. It's 1:16am, so this is all I have and I wrote it drunk so it's probably shit but. You know I love to feed you garbage. I PRoMise to upload more tomorrow when I'm sober and able. SORRy fOR THE ANGST IT'LL BE OVER SOOn probably.

Shink. Shink. The keys miss the lock a third time and he has to kneel down at eye level to get them in. With a hard jerk he finally gets the damn thing open, stumbling inside his apartment. Fuck, that Shitty Glasses could drink. It wasn’t easy to get him this sloshed, but they must’ve each knocked back a pitcher of that shitty arcade beer. He needed a shower.

The laces on his shoes become a trial of willpower by the time he can actually undo them and slide his feet out. The shock of cold wet water soaking through his sock gives him a heart palpitation. “Fuck” He groans before remembering his girlfriend is likely asleep. As pissed as he is, he bites his tongue and steps around the puddle. But he’s met with another. Infact, there’s a trail leading down the hall. What the fuck did she do? Play mermaid while he was gone?

He bends to peel off his wet socks off in the doorway of his room, almost falling in the process. She sniffles. Levi looks up. He could fall to his knees at the sight. “Why are you awake? Did you have a nightmare?” His mind becomes sobered with worry, but his movements are still sloppy as he rushes to her side. 

She’s soaked, the trail of puddles leading right to her curled form on the floor before his bed. “Rori? What happened?” He hates the vacant look in her eyes. It’s too familiar. The temperature of her skin is shocking given the warmth of his apartment, he thinks she must’ve been outside. But when? Why?

When she finally meets his gaze, the numbed expression twists heart wrenchingly. Her body is wracked with a sob, then a few moments of silence before another as she struggles to breathe. “Oh fuck.” He murmurs, scooping her into his hold the best he can and squeezing tight. It makes his throat tighten and his mouth fill with saliva like he could throw up or scream or cry with her. “What happened?” He repeats, rocking their bodies. She smells like city rain and it seeps into his clothes. “Baby, what’s wrong, please? I-I can fix it. I promise, just-” he swallows, “You just have to talk to me.” Her wails are so loud he has to raise his voice to make sure she hears him. Her fingers curl into his shirt, his skin, almost painfully. There’s hardly room between them to take a breath. “H-h-he-” She sobs, spit and tears soaking through his hoodie.

“Who?” every vein, every capillary in Levi’s body freezes. His mind runs through a million possibilities in the short time it takes for her to get out another word, settling on the worst one. Someone must’ve hurt her. He could- no he would kill whoever is responsible for the state of his angel. 

“Eren.” She swallows, pulling away from him long enough to unclench one of her fists. It’s crumpled and soaked, but he recognizes it. The pictures from Rhode Island. “You went to see him? Did he hurt you?” 

“No.” Rori sniffs and hiccups, eyes swollen. A wave of relief washes over Levi, he let’s out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “But he knows. He brought me these.” A new fear takes hold.

“Where did he get them?”

“Spare key. He broke in. Found them last weekend when he stayed over and went back to get them.”

“Fuck.” He pulls his hand over his face. “What did he say? Did he threaten you?”

“He said he’d tell if I didn’t end it. End us.” She whimpers. “I told him I would. I said I’d drop your class and stay away from you. But I can’t… I can’t do this again. I can’t, Levi. I love you.” Her voice squeaks and another sob bubbles from her lips. He pulls her close again, rubbing soothing circles over her back. “Sh, sh. I know. I’ll fix it. I can… I can fix it.” 

He doesn’t know how to fix it. 

“C’mon, let’s… let’s take a shower.” He peels her off of him just enough to stand, steadying himself on the bed before picking her up. God, he was so drunk this pipsqueak felt heavy. He turns on the water and waits for it to run hot before helping her out of her sopping wet clothes. “You went out in this? Are you stupid?” He grunts. She just sniffs again, slipping back into default numbness. 

Undressing himself is a little harder, his fumbling hands can’t make sense of his belt. After a few moments of watching him struggle, Rori undoes it with ease and pulls his pants down. He kicks them the rest of the way off and guides her under the water. She sighs, letting it stream over her head. Levi folds her in his arms, kissing the back of her head and closes his eyes. “It’s gonna be okay.” He whispers. She believes him.


	23. ???????????????????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FUCK IM SORRY I ENDED UP STAYING THE NIGHT AT MY GIRLFRIENDS HOUSE AND WE DROVE AROUND THE DESERT UNTIL 2AM AND IT WAS REALLY NICE BUT I DIDNT WRITE SO HERE HAVE SOME SMUT I LOVE YOU please comment it feeds my soul and keeps me writing (I'm drunk again)

Rori wakes before the sun to Levi shaking her shoulders. “Huh?” Her voice is a coarse croak and her eyes struggle to focus in the dark. “Nightmare.” He grumbles a few notes lower than usual. “You screamed.”

“Oh. Sorry.” She whispers. He collapses his head onto her chest and closes his eyes. “What was it?”

“What was what?”

“Your nightmare?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Mm.” He grunts. 

She can feel his breathing go shallow, feel him falling asleep over her. “What are we gonna do?”

He sighs. “Sleep.”

“No, I mean about-”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What?”

He lifts his head so she can hear him clearly. “It doesn’t matter. No matter what happens, we’ll be together.”

“But if Eren-”

“Then I lose my job. It’s not the end of the world.” He slips his fingers through her hair, words still slow and groggy with sleep. 

“Levi, I don’t want you to-”

“What? Accept the consequences of my actions?” He scoffs, “This might’ve been a monumental fuck up for my professional career, but I couldn’t give less of a shit. It’s the happiest I’ve been since… fuck, I can’t even remember. I don’t care what happens, Aurora. I’m gonna be with you until you kick me to the curb, brat.” 

“You just signed your soul over, enfoiré (fuckface), I’m not letting you go.” she presses her mouth to the top of his head. Levi lifts himself onto his elbows, hovering over her. “Sounds like a square deal.” When he kisses her, he doesn’t even think to mind her morning breath. With every girlfriend he’d ever had, he couldn’t bear to touch them before they’d showered in the morning. In fact, he’d make a point to avoid them until he was sure their hygiene was impeccable. But with Rori… he felt human. Every anxiety, every hang up, every bad habit he had felt null. She made him bare. Pure. Clean. 

Fuck. That’s what it was. That thing he couldn’t place. That feeling he could never attain, no matter how many showers he took, no matter how many times he scrubbed his hands raw. He’d always felt dirty, riddled with doubt and insecurity and incompletion. But this girl, this angel, could make it all disappear. Levi loved her with every faculty at his disposal, he withheld nothing. 

He tangles his tongue over hers, interrupting their gentle rhythm with a burning need to consume her. There’s so much energy in him, he’s sure he’ll explode if he doesn’t filter it through her. Every trace of languid sleep is stripped from their movements, like the layers of clothing that scatter on the floor. Levi sucks a stripe down her neck, her chest, her stomach. Excitement bubbles in her stomach and up through her throat with an unintentional giggle, but his fervent motions over her pussy cut it off. She whimpers instead, threading fingers through black strands and pulling so deliciously he moans into the meal he’s made of her. “Levi!” She can’t tell what sensations are his fingers and which are his tongue, but the combination is drawing the sweetest noises that he can imagine. Things like this had once been a chore, an obligation he took upon himself as a sex partner. He would’ve never thought he could so thoroughly enjoy the taste of a wet cunt. Shit, he doesn’t even mind the scent anymore. Listening to her voice, watching her writhe and feeling her contract around his fingers… he swear he could cum without a touch. 

“Le-...Le- ha! Levi! Fuck. Oh, fuck.” She whimpers so pitifully, it might be mistaken for crying. Aurora is hot, slick arousal and bitten skin. He fingerfucks her as fast as his arm will allow, chewing the inside of her thighs with more force than he ever had before. She can feel the bruises, maybe even broken skin, but the harsh contrast between pain and mind-boggling pleasure is heavenly. “Again.” She begs after her lets her wet skin pop from between his teeth. Levi all but grins and bites the apex of her thigh. “Oh my god. Fuck, Levi, harder, please.” Rori pleads for nothing in particular, mind clouded with the building pressure between her legs. “Fuck, daddy, harder.”

He stops. The natural blush of her cheeks intensifies to a full body prickle of heat. She covers her face with both hands and squeaks an apology after a good look at his surprised expression. Well, as surprised as Levi’s expression can get. Even though they’d talked about it, she can’t help but expect him to laugh or be so turned off they can’t continue. The bed shifts and the head of his cock pushes into her without warning. Her breath leaves her in a gasp, and she’s forced to look meet his gaze when he folds her arms over her head in a tight grip. His face is hidden in shadow, but his voice strikes a chord deep within her. “Say it again.”

Her throat bobs. “Daddy?” 

She’s rewarded with a painstaking rhythm and a hand over her throat just tight enough to excite her. His reaction is so much more than she’d hoped for that she repeats it over and over, with increasing confidence. “Fuck.” He grunts when her pussy twitches around him. “You like this, baby?”

God, she could melt at that pet name. She half expected him to call her- “Answer me, brat.” And there it is. “Let me hear your fucking voice.”

“Yes, daddy, I love it!” She blurts.

“Tell me what you want.”

“F-faster, please.”

He snaps his hips forward and back with an audible slap of wet skin. She thinks of that vine where stirring macaroni sounds like good pussy and almost laughs. Almost. She’s too close to the edge to be distracted for very long. “Le- Daddy, can- ah! Can I cum?”

Levi’s pretty sure he passed cloud nine and went straight to fucking ten. “Cum for me, babygirl.” 

Rori let’s herself tense, arching her hips up and giving herself some leverage to meet his bucking movements. Her voice reaches a whole new octave, panting and searching for the orgasm that’s been building. Levi cums first, to both of their surprise, but forces himself to stay buried inside despite how sensitive his cock is. He vibrates the pad of his thumb over her clit and offers a few more deep thrusts to send her over the edge. 

“Fuck.” He groans, dropping his forehead to hers. 

“Fuck.” She agrees. Then she giggles. 

“What the fuck are you laughing at, dumbass?”

“Nothing. I just wish I could tell Annie.” She grins, stroking the shaved portion of his hair. 

“If I lose my job, you can tell all your friends about how good my dick is.” 

“Sounds like a square deal.”


	24. Just a check in

So I just wanted to gauge the interest in continuing this fic. I know some of y'all are way into it, and I'm really thankful for all the thoughtful comments and kudos, but this was more meant to be a guilty pleasure outlet rather than a fully developed story. I'm starting my first semester of college next week so I'll have even less time and energy to spend on this piece, which makes me apprehensive of continuing because the only ideas I have for continuing require a dickload of writing and are kind of emotionally complex. I noticed when I tried writing angst, you guys begged for more smut and fluff, which is cool but makes me think that you may not be interested in what I had planned, i.e developing Rori's struggle with PTSD and Levi's depression, introducing Rori's father and depicting their complex relationship/revealing some things about the family history, bringing Petra back in the mix for angstiness, emboldening Erwin to make a move on rori/catch onto Levi and possibly force him to quit, etc. Functionally, the only route I think this story can go is extreme angst after extreme angst and I'm not sure I have the energy to write that in a way that would be satisfactory for you or me. What I'm thinking is a quick sweet ending because I'm happy with Levi and Rori's relationship right now even if there are still some unexplored plot fuck ups and unanswered questions. This isn't my best work, I feel, but I haven't written a fanfiction in four years so this was a chill little way to get back into the groove and I really enjoyed writing it. If y'all are comfy with ending this shit here, I'll probably start on some new projects I've been developing for a while. 

Anyways, thanks for reading, I'm still not sure what I'm doing with this yet but comment how you feel below and we'll talk about it. Kisses xoxo

**Author's Note:**

> This is me begging for validation if you actually enjoy my word vomit. Give me positive reinforcement so I can disappoint you, daddy.


End file.
